WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, Oct. 27, two right-wing groups named in a lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters of Arizona announced they would abandon “sponsorship” of an operation to monitor drop boxes. In an email they refer to as an “Official Stand Down order,” the Lions of Liberty and Yavapai County Preparedness Team — a group with links to the Oath Keepers — stated that “Operation Drop Box is officially Closed.” The organizations pointed to the lawsuit “and a possible restraining order” as the reason for their decision to “step[] down” from their “sponsorship of Operation Drop Box.”

In recent days, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) has forwarded six complaints of possible voter intimidation to the Arizona attorney general and U.S. Department of Justice. Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona announced there were criminal charges pending in several election-threat cases. Additionally, the League’s lawsuit is one of two against coordinated voter intimidation by right wing-vigilantes in the state, with the other filed on behalf of Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans. There was a hearing for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in the Alliance’s lawsuit yesterday — you can find a courtroom summary here.

But no roundup of This Week In Antisemitism would be complete without a contribution from Donald J. Trump, a true thought leader, influencer and innovator in the Judeophobic space. Via a post on his own conservative media platform Truth Social, the former president counseled Jewish Americans to emulate “our wonderful Evangelicals,” urging Jews to follow the evangelicals in supporting and admiring him for all he has done for Israel.

To Trump’s point, amongst the Jewish electorate, support and admiration have not been abundantly forthcoming: In 2016 and 2020, roughly 70 to 75% of Jewish Americans did not cast their vote for Trump (whereas 80% of evangelicals did). Perhaps aware of those data points, Trump routinely chides the Jewish community. There was thus nothing surprising when he concluded his post with a warning: “U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel — before it’s too late.”

Many in the media and elsewhere reasoned that the former president was playing the “dual loyalty” card with his comments. This well-known antisemitic slander avers that Jews are unpatriotic — more committed to other Jews, and/or Israel, than to the well-being of the United States.

But what Trump is actually saying is slightly different from a generic dual loyalty charge. And far more dangerous.

Trump is making subtle innovations in antisemitic rhetoric, all the while deploying time-tested, old school, anti-Jewish tropes. He might insinuate that all Jews are great negotiators. He might refer to them as "brutal killers" in the real estate business. Nor is he above going Full Shylock. Journalist Yair Rosenberg flagged a Trump quote from decades back: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.” That’s some classic antisemitism (and racism) right there.

But lately you’ll notice a tweak: Trump’s now dividing Jews into two mutually exclusive categories of unequal size. First, there are the good Jews. They vote for MAGA Republicans. They unequivocally support Israel (by which Trump means hard-right Israeli governments beholden to religious-nationalist policies)......

But what Trump is actually saying is slightly different from a generic dual loyalty charge. And far more dangerous.

Trump is making subtle innovations in antisemitic rhetoric, all the while deploying time-tested, old school, anti-Jewish tropes. He might insinuate that all Jews are great negotiators. He might refer to them as "brutal killers" in the real estate business. Nor is he above going Full Shylock. Journalist Yair Rosenberg flagged a Trump quote from decades back: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.” That’s some classic antisemitism (and racism) right there.

But lately you’ll notice a tweak: Trump’s now dividing Jews into two mutually exclusive categories of unequal size. First, there are the good Jews. They vote for MAGA Republicans. They unequivocally support Israel (by which Trump means hard-right Israeli governments beholden to religious-nationalist policies).

There was one point, however, he emphasized more than once.

“Look, folks, Democrats are going to protect Social Security and Medicare,” Biden declared. “Republicans have been very clear: They’ve stated boldly that they want to cut Social Security and Medicare — to the point that they’ll shut down the government, they say, and send the nation into default, which raises prices for everyone, if we do not cut Social Security and Medicare. I ain’t gonna do it.”

Looking over the transcript, the president used the phrase “Social Security and Medicare” literally 11 times during his appearance at the DNC.

Biden’s comments coincided with a Semafor report on Democrats’ newfound focus on the popular social insurance programs.

With just over two weeks to go until Election Day, Democrats are pivoting to a new economic message: That Republicans will crash the economy next year in order to gut Social Security and Medicare, a pair of politically popular safety-net programs. From President Biden to Speaker Pelosi to individual candidates in race after race, Democrats are pushing for a renewed focus on entitlements, a traditional strength for the party.

The article characterized this as an election-season “gamble” — recent polling suggests Social Security and Medicare are not among the issues voters are focusing on most — adding that the new Democratic messaging might also be a sign “that the party’s emphasis on abortion may not be enough to carry candidates across the finish line on its own.”.....

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise has also embraced a partisan plan for significant changes to Social Security and Medicare, while Republican incumbents such as Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and Republican candidates such as New Hampshire’s Don Bolduc have endorsed related, regressive plans. Let’s also not forget about Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a member of the Senate GOP leadership, who published a blueprint that would put Social Security and Medicare in even greater jeopardy.

Are Democrats recognizing that their current pitch is insufficient, or are they simply exploiting an unexpected opportunity?

Justice Samuel Alito, the author of the Dobbs ruling, told The Wall Street Journal such criticism “crosses an important line.” This week, as The Washington Post reported, the conservative jurist continued to push back and defend the high court.

When asked about criticism that the court has strayed too far from public sentiment and risks appearing partisan when it overturns precedent, Alito said he has no problem with the public, the media and academics criticizing the court’s legal reasoning in its rulings. But he took issue with those who have questioned the legitimacy of the court. “To say that the court is exhibiting a lack of integrity is something quite different. That goes to character, not to a disagreement with the result or the reasoning. It goes to character,” Alito said.

The justice added, “Someone also crosses an important line when they say that the court is acting in a way that is illegitimate. I don’t think anybody in a position of authority should make that claim lightly. That’s not just ordinary criticism. That’s something very different.”

He didn’t reference Kagan by name, but given the larger context, it seems quite likely she was the person “in a position of authority” he was referring to.

To be sure, during his public appearance on Tuesday, Alito addressed several other important subjects, including alleged assassination threats and the leak of his draft Dobbs ruling, which are clearly important in their own right.

But it was his ongoing defense of the Supreme Court at an institutional level that stood out —largely because Alito’s argument was, and is, wildly unpersuasive.

President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies have been unsubtle of late when it comes to Social Security and Medicare. As we discussed yesterday, the president visited the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters on Monday and used the phrase “Social Security and Medicare” literally 11 times.

But as a report from Roll Call made clear, the party is doing more than just talk about these social-insurance programs in assorted speeches.

In the closing weeks of an election increasingly dominated by economic issues, the Senate Democrats’ top super PAC is focusing on Social Security in new ad buys worth at least $1 million each aimed at Republicans in Arizona and North Carolina. In the Arizona cut, the narrator asks what nominee Blake Masters’ plan is “while we’re struggling just to stay afloat.”

The commercial is unsubtle, and it makes use of the Republican candidate’s own rhetoric, including recent remarks in which he suggested privatizing Social Security.

The Senate Majority PAC, which has close ties to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, also began airing a related spot in North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race, targeting Republican Rep. Ted Budd.