Opinion: I’m a Frum Conservative, and I will not be voting for Donald Trump

opinionI’m a Frum Conservative, and I will not be voting for Donald Trump in the upcoming election. There are two reason for this: because I’m a Conservative, and because I’m Frum. I’ll try to explain, but if the political nature of the first part bores you, please skip to the section about why the Frum person in me won’t vote for Trump, as that is the more important part.

Firstly, Donald Trump is not a Conservative, and does not stand for anything that a Conservative stands for. For example, after never giving an answer to what he would “repeal and replace” ObamaCare with, Trump more recently, including during the second debate, came out in favor of a single payer healthcare system, which is even farther left of a concept than ObamaCare, and straight out of the Bernie Sanders handbook. He’s also listed health care and education as responsibilities of the Federal Government, which is a huge deviation from the Republican viewpoint, which states that education should be the responsibility of the State, and health care shouldn’t even be that. He doesn’t seem to believe in small government, which is perhaps the basic tenant of the Republican Party, based on his views. While Ted Cruz, the most Conservative of all the candidates, ran on the platform that the Obama Administration spends too much taxpayer money, and wanted to scrap the current tax system, abolish the IRS, and reintroduce the Grace Commission, all to lessen government spending, and critically, government control, Donald Trump continues to run on universal health care, laws against business outsourcing, has said some dumbfounding things about freedom of speech, and continues to champion himself, and only himself, as the sole thing standing between Americans and the Apocalypse. This all points to bigger government, which is not what Republicans believe in.

But why does this matter? If we take this all for fact, that he’s not a true Conservative, should that matter, considering that we don’t have a Conservative to vote for? Since they’re both, for all intents and purposes, Liberal Democrats, does voting for Trump do more damage than voting for Hillary? The answer is yes. The Conservative values, which the vast majority of the readers of this site have, has one political platform, and one platform only: the Republican Party. You will not, in the foreseeable future, see a Conservative run from the Democratic Party. That being said, a Liberal president being elected from the Democratic Party is not nearly as damaging to Conservatism as a Liberal president being elected from the Republican Party. Trump has essentially hijacked the only platform that our morals have to influence government policy. In that case, Hillary winning the election, and Donald being forced to cut ties with the RNC, ending the era of “Trumpist Republicans,” gives America a better chance of having a Conservative leaning Republican candidate in the 2020 election. A vote against Donald Trump is a vote for the continuation of the Republican Party.

On top of that, unfortunately, Trump has already done considerable damage to the Republican Party. About two weeks ago, a disturbing tape of Trump was released, in which he was recorded boasting about consistent immoral acts towards women, and getting away with it because he’s famous. Naturally, it sent the Republicans into a frenzy. Many players in the Party withdrew their endorsements, while others, like Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, did not withdraw their endorsements, but tried to remove themselves from association with Trump by saying they won’t stick up for him, make excuses for him, or apologize for him. This puts the Republican politicians in a bind, in which they can either back Trump fully despite how deplorable of a human being he has proven to be, and drag themselves down by association, or risk losing the entire mass of the Trump supporters, and risk not being voted for down ballot, and essentially dragging themselves down by lack of association, which would result in Republican Senators and Congressmen not getting reelected. And as far as I can tell, this can not be rectified. Trump has destroyed the present, near future, and long term future of the Conservative movement, and all but guaranteed that keeping the Congress Republican is a pipe dream.

As for why the Frum person in me won’t vote for Trump, he’s not someone who I can endorse, as a Frum person, to lead our country. The very first thing that tends to pop into one’s mind when talking about Trump is his lack of political correctness. And I’ll admit, sometimes that’s refreshing. It is. We’ve been forced by the Left to not take the facts into account on too many occasions in the name of political correctness, and it has let flawed realities stay flawed and fester. But Trump is not politically incorrect when he crosses the line to being a bad person. It would be politically incorrect for me to tell you that minority communities have a bigger lifestyle issue causing violence, than they have a problem of racism causing violence. It may not be politically correct, but it’s true, and realizing that would help the inner cities tremendously. But telling a lady that she’s fat, like Trump did, even if it’s completely true, makes you a bad person. Not politically incorrect, evil.

As a side note, there’s even a polite way to be politically incorrect. To repeat over and over that Mexico “sends us their criminals,” while only slightly factually incorrect (Mexico doesn’t “send” anyone, they don’t secure their borders, and not everyone coming through is a criminal, but one can choose to focus on the criminals as being the problem), and not politically incorrect, is also obnoxious. One can choose to frame it as, “unfortunately, too many illegal immigrants resort to violence,” which is being politically incorrect, while still being factual and polite.

Recently, as mentioned above, there was a recording leaked by the press of Donald Trump boasting about his consistent assault on non-consenting women. Whether or not his boasts had an ounce of truth is irrelevant, because considering assault something to boast about is only morally “better” than assault itself. And the common argument about the character flaws of this nature in other presidents, John F. Kennedy, amongst others, rings very very hollow. We all use Bill Clinton’s immorality with woman and Hillary’s bullying and persecution of his victims as reasons we won’t vote for Hillary, so why do we refuse to hold Trump to the same basic human standards? This isn’t something that you can pick and choose who you hold accountable for, it just isn’t. It is the epitome of cognitive dissonance.

I’ve heard many people tell me that they’ll vote for Donald, not on the merit of his policies, and not on the merit of him as a person, but to help ensure that Hillary doesn’t get elected, and I won’t try to convince you not to. I won’t vote for him, nor will I vote for Hillary just to ensure that Trump isn’t president, but it’s a valid enough train of logic. I just implore you to not endorse him as your political nominee, as he doesn’t represent our political values, and more importantly, to understand the moral loss we suffer with him in the office, and to perhaps not openly endorse him as a person you want in office, the same way we wouldn’t endorse Hillary as a person fit for President of the United States. He is not the lesser of the two evils as a person, and perhaps only marginally so as a politician, although I disagree with that notion as well. That is why I will not vote for either in this election. I hope that I helped open you eyes to the reality of our situation, with the intention of helping us all keep our moral compasses straight through this difficult decision.

May we all have the Siyata D’Shmaya to get past this to a better time.

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42 COMMENTS

  1. Well said.

    We will make a huge kiddush Hashemi if we all vote/write-in the only conservative ticket in the race: Evan McMullin/Nathan Johnson.

  2. I would suggest you vote. Looks like you have a lot of extra time on your hands. What are you going to do on November 8th if your not voting?
    Once your voting, vote Trump!
    Make America Great Again!

  3. basically you are saying that you would rather hillary in office than vote? i agree he is morally incorrect, but as you stated, he is the better of the two evils and i feel morally compelled to do what ever is in my power to insure that hillary does not get into office!

  4. Well as a frum independent and not a conservative Trump has my vote. Not because I like the person Trump rather because he has some good ideas. I think people should consider smart policies as the first and foremost issue. Here are some common sense Trump policies

    1) Syria. We all know that democracy will never flourish in the middle east. There are no “moderate rebels”. Furthermore,We cannot fight a 3 way war against Assad, Al-Nusra & ISIL and expect to win against all 3. All that leads me to believe that Trump’s lan of reinstating Assad to a pre 2011 era of stability makes the most sense. And its what Al-Sisi did in Egypt.
    2) Russia. Why not make an alliance with Putin. There are only two reasons to bicker with another soverign country, either they violate human rights on a massive scale or they threaten our existence. Russia while bad ,is not sending the Crimean’s to the golug. And Putin is not really a threat to the USA. To the contrary a strong alliance can help us beat islamic extremism. Lastly, Putin is a great friend to us yidden. And that alone ,as a frum yid living in the largest jewish population country makes me want to support Putin.
    3. NATO, Who says its good? Turkey has been very bad to both Israel and the USA. Why not rethink NATO?
    4. Illegal immigration. I agree with the writer that calling mexicans criminals is evil spirted and uncalled for. But as we see in Lakewood they are bankrupting our system via coming here and having kids who are then USA citzens and get all government entitlements while not paying taxes. Our School system is broke thanks to all the illegals. So on policy Trump is right.
    5. Offshoring while the writer frowns against it, there should be limits on what rich corporations can offshore. He may be correct about small business offshoring but large corporations can afford more.
    6. Israel, Trump has made some comments here and there like his a fair negotiator. But I think overall he will be much better. And Jarod whom he respects greatly will have alot of say on Israeli policy. Hillary on the other hand we know will be nasty as BIll and Bibi were. (Don’t forget Bill personally campaigned against BIbi for Ehud so that he can promote Oslo)

    Bottom line is, our government is broken, I hate Trump the filthy person. But any business that was in the government’s shoes would bring in an outsider to challenge the status quo and rethink every deal from head to toe.

  5. The issues for me are 1. The future of the Supreme Court; 2. cutting spending and taxes while increasing jobs; 3. A tough leader to deal with foreign issues; 4. a leader who is not a politician or beholden to special interests. (while I don’t condone his behavior, it’s a reflection of society) VOTE TRUMP!!!.

  6. The sad truth is that every politician today is either a menuval or is pro-nevala; its just a question of degree. Trump will install Supreme Court nominees who can perhaps roll back the degenerates’ gains. Clinton will appoint people who will make it worse. Much worse.

  7. There are concerns with both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump, but a frum yid should be voting for Mr. Trump. The reason is simple, voting for Mrs. Clinton will more then likely add liberal judges to our supreme court – we need a conservative supreme court to help keep this country closer in-line to our Torah values.

  8. Very well written article. I arrived at the same conclusion. Trump is too emotionally immature and too ego driven to be a safe choice, on top of the other good reasons enumerated in the article.

  9. When Hatzlalah comes to save a person, we dont ask if they just spoke Loshon Horah or talk in shul. its pikuach nefesh. The michashaifah is about to bring us into a 3rd world war against Russia by insisting on supporting the terrorist rebels in Syria, and youre busy with both of their morals and political principals……..as Yidden , pikuach nefesh trumps all.

  10. Normally, I take the bait and defend every anti-Trump article on here. But this article was so factually incorrect and dis-jointed that I am not even going to bother.

    Trump has not stated has never said he supports single payer healthcare. He supports removing state boundaries and increasing health insurance competition.

    The rest of the article, was pretty much unintelligible to me. Sounds like the writer got confused by trying to multi-task and listen to Mark Levin and a Daf Yomi tape at the same time.

  11. I have my doubts about the author’s motivation. If I was a clever Hillary supporter who wanted to convince an audience of frum people not to vote for Trump, I can’t think of a better or more subtle way than the author’s arguments. There’s no way you can argue to a frum/conservative readership that they should vote for Hillary, but this is a nice way of inducing people not to vote for Trump, which amounts to the same thing.

    The “tell” is the way the “political” section reads like a set of Hillary talking points.

    Everyone knows that Trump is a boor and that he has, at best, a record of political views that are not conservative. But, after everything else is said and done, Hillary, Bill and their crime family are, and have been for decades, particularly devoted to the worst values for either a conservative or frum person: toeva, soft on crime, utterly corrupt government, cronyism, big labor. On top of that, they are in the pockets of the likes of Soros and the Saudis, they are very cozy with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. They set up charities to make themselves rich, essentially stole from the Haitian earthquake relief effort, sold off over 20% of US uranium reserves to the Russians and sold US foreign policy for donations to their foundation. The endless lying, covering up, destroying evidence and witnesses, perjury, and on and on.

    In short, Clinton makes Trump look like a groisse mentsch, which is amazing when you consider what he is.

  12. I am also a frum conservative who will not vote for Trump. He is not normal and not to be trusted. He will not implement all those “great ideas” because he is incapable of being president. Anyway he can’t be trusted to implement anything he says because he’s not a normal human being. I always detested him and I’m still in shock that he made it this far. People are sooo ignorant it’s scary.

  13. first and foremost a conservative supreme court can handle anything that goes its way
    second if terrifs are put in place on all goods from china and Mexico will bring back American economy from anemic brink
    nothing else will and if he is friendly to Israel than we have it set

  14. this a rediculous article. Obviously you’re a Democrat and hilliary lover. Trump at his worst will be far better than Hilliary criminal machine.
    All her money comes from Arab Countries that she owes favors to. That alone is frightening.
    Go vote for hilliary and get another Obama, Muslim lover.
    and call it FRUM. what a joke!

  15. God calls us to vote and vote for the best according to His word. You are not American if you refuse to vote. Think of all the unborn babies, unvetted imigrants by the thousands, losing our religous freedoms, and the list goes on. Listen to the video played in Isreal today and tell me you cant stand him. A country that stands with Isreal will not fall.

  16. There’s a nice piece in this article about being politically correct and still being a mensch that many of the commenters above should have paid more attention to before commenting…

  17. When trump put a religious test for immigration, that is disqualifying.
    As a frum yid the only way that we will be safe as Jews, is if all religions are protected. Today it’s the Muslims tommrow it will be another religion. In fact if they would make a referendum and make it illegal for Jews to work in finance and real estate that would pass in a landslide!
    So for all the people who say that you need to vote for trump I would like someone to explain why I shouldn’t be concerned about this.

  18. The truth is that no rational person would ever vote Trump. The problem is that the readers here are suffering from such extreme cognitive dissonance that reality is no longer part of their vocabulary. As can be seen from the comments on this site, reality and facts aren’t the arguments being made. Very sad state of affairs.

  19. Well written article. I am also a frum conservative and for me the choice is between a kook and a crook.
    Having followed the Clinton shenanigans for years, I think at this point, I’m going to go with the crook I know than with the meshigeneh I don’t know.
    All you commenters blabbering on and on about the supreme Court, how Trump is better for Israel etc. Are just projecting your wishful thinking on this total nut job. He’ll listen to his yidishe son in law on Monday then chop off his head on Tuesday. Then cry in his bottle on Wednesday because someone called him a name and chop off his wife’s head on Thursday.

  20. Hey Dave,

    Evan McMullin is no conservative. He is pro-abortion. The NeverTrumpers installed him in Utah since he is a Mormon and they are hoping to split the vote so Hillary will win.

  21. 1) Clinton will look to nominate Supreme Court justices like Ginsberg, Sotomayor, and Kagan. Trump will look for a conservative justice like Scalia. This alone is enough of a reason to vote for the Donald.
    2) Most of the donations for the Clinton Foundation have come from Arabic sources. Hillary is indebted to those who want to destroy Israel and the USA.
    3) The Clintons have gotten rich by accepting bribes while disguising it as speeches, and donations to their charity. Over 90 percent of their donations didn’t not go the charities . They were used for “expenses”. Hillary is an extremely selfish, mean spirited person that is willing to put American lives and interests at risk for her personal preferences. She left our people to die in Benghazi. She set up her private email so that only she would have access to her data, and so that other government employees wouldn’t be able to pick up on her “pay for play” racket.
    She sold uranium to the Russians so that she would receive a donation to her wonderful charity.
    4) As Donald says she really doesn’t have good judgement. Unlike her husband who was a talented politician she isn’t. Her tenure as Secretary of State was a disaster. She failed with Libya, Syria, Russia, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, China, Egypt.. She has no sense of right from wrong or the results from
    actions.
    5) Hillary will raise taxes, and waste (or pocket) that money. She will favor the large institutions and companies that take advantage of the system since they made her rich. She will allow terrorists and drug dealers into the country as long as they’re disguised as refugees (or donate to her favorite charity). She is opposed to school choice, pro abortion, pro transgender restrooms… She has many views that are directly contrary to our beliefs.
    6) The Clintons have a whole mafia network protecting them. They did in Arkansas whether it was with Whitewater, Vince Fosters suspicious “suicide”… Or now with the FBI and her emails, the Clinton Foundation and the biased media, and Richs supposed suicide.
    7) Wiki Leaks exposed a tip of the iceberg how corrupt our government and media are. Donald Trump will do what he can to change all that. He isn’t obligated to any lobbyists, media, or other politicians. If he wins this election he will cause havoc to both of our lousy and dishonest large political parties. He will hopefully deliver a fatal blow to our dishonest media like CNN, NY Times, Washigton Post, NBC, USA Today, Fox, CBS… This is an excellent reason to vote Trump.
    8) No politicians express their truethoughts like Donald. Yes, he can be obnoxious, vulgar, and haughty. But, he isn’t politically correct and says what other people think.
    9) He understands finances and the economy much better then Hillary does. He knows what it men’s to earn money, lose money, and work a real job. There’s good reason why middle class workers like him. He understands their needs. Hillary can’t relate to everyday Americans as she has been away from the average Joes world for 30 years.
    10) Donald loves America and really wants to make Anerica great again. Hillary has no such ambitions. Her wiki leaks emails disclosed that she may want to make the whole North and South America into one country. Truthfully, I doubt she really cares. I don’t think the Clintons ever had any real beliefs, political agendas, or morals. They are just self serving opportunists that will destroy anyone that gets in their way.
    11) Donald Trump will attempt to prevent terrorist and drug traffickers from entering the USA.
    12) Trump will repeal Obamacare (which originally started off as Hillarycare). He will open competition between health insurers across state lines. This should help a bit. At the very least we won’t be sattled with an unpopular tax disguised a health insurance just to uphold the Obama Legacy.
    13) Trump will change our trade agreements with other countries. This should greatly help American businesses.
    14) Trump will heavily tax companies that move their businesses to other countries and then bring their products back.
    15) Trump will do what he can to prevent rogue countries like Iran, North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. Hillary will continue down the Obama path of allowing Iran to become a nuclear power. If this is allowed to continue we will probably see Iran start a nuclear war within the next 10-15 years. This might be the best reason to vote for Trump.
    16) Trump said the first country he will visit is Israel. Trump will not tie Israel up from defending themselves and will be more of a friend and ally. Hillary has been bought up by Many enemies of Israel like Morrocco, Saudi Arabia, George Soros…
    There are only two a candidates who have a realistic chance of getting ejected. One is an evil corrupt Woman. The other is crass, full of himself, but really a decent person with good values. Trump sea used a very fine family. It shows what type of person he probably is. Trump reminds me of Achashverosh and Clibton of Vashti. It isn’t a question for me whom to vote for. A vote for anyone other than Trump is helping Clinton.

  22. JustWondering,
    Your statement is an absolute lie. Evan McMullin is unequivocally anti-abortion. A simple look at the Issues tab on his website would have told you this, but of course you’re not interested in facts – only in promoting a lunatic for president. The truth is that McMullin is the only actual conservative in this race, which is why he has my vote. You can vote for Trump if you want, but don’t try to trick unsuspecting people by lying to them.

  23. Bottom line –

    If Clinton wins the Supreme Court will be liberal for a generation – any moral protections left in this country will disappear and some of this country’s laws and rights may in fact become immoral (like Sedom). Trump has committed to nominating conservative judges.

    Clinton’s foreign policies will stir up the middle east and may result in a confrontation with Russia – something none of us want. Trump is a consensus builder who can work with Russia to eliminate ISIS.

    There is no choice – we must vote Trump – not because of who Trump is, but because there is no other legitimate option.

  24. This just in from The Onion:

    WASHINGTON—In an effort to help voters make an informed decision at the polls, the Federal Election Commission announced Thursday it would be extending the U.S. presidential election by seven months to give Americans the opportunity to better get to know the presidential candidates. “We believe the continuation of this election by just over half a year will provide Americans with the chance to fully acquaint themselves with both the character and policy positions of Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump,” said FEC chairman Matthew S. Petersen, who expressed confidence that the American people would benefit greatly from over 200 extra days of election coverage, rallies, press conferences, and campaign ads. “Our commission has also worked with the CPD to schedule eight more presidential debates and three more town halls, so that there will be no question that every citizen is ready to cast their ballot by the time Election Day comes around on June 8, 2017.” The FEC added that it had not ruled out extending the election by an additional year if any U.S. voters were still undecided.

  25. As the author mentions, the most cogent point for those who can think a bit past the coming week or month is that electing Trump will destroy conservatism for a generation. When he – for his own political or ideological reasons – makes common cause with the liberals on any of a myriad of issues, Republicans in Congress – unable or unwilling to oppose their party’s president enmasse – will be stymied in being able to thwart it. Clinton, on the other hand, will be unable to get anything new out of a Republican House of Representatives (and even if the Senate goes Democrat, the Republicans are sure to win it back in two years, and meanwhile they can filibuster). Even on the Supreme Court, if Clinton nominates uber-liberals, the Republicans (even in the minority) can fight her; if Trump actss on his previous statements in support of liberal justices, enough Republicans will feel the need to support a Republican president and will approve whoever he nominates.

    As for Israel and other important issues, nothing Trump says now has any bearing on what he would actually do in office. His record of saying ridiculous and contradictory things on issue after issue seems to indicate that he himself has no idea what he stands for; but in any case, he is completely untrustworthy. And when Clinton – who cares only about her own attainment and retention of political success – feels the heat on pressuring Israel or anything else (and most prominent Democrats in government remain unequivocally pro-Israel despite the leftward tilt of the rank-and-file), she will back off, while Trump (similar to Obama) has the extreme hubris to think that he always knows best on every issue; so when he decides that Israel must make “peace” the pressure will be unrelenting and unprecedented.

    All this is not even to mention, the non-political issue of Trump’s mental, moral, and behavioral instability. One could suppose (and hope) that what he says and how he acts is a put-on to appeal to a certain demographic, but the petty and embarrassing things he has done and said about people who cross him indicate that he is truly so self-absorbed and irrational that he is a tremendous risk to this country and the world.

    Is short, with Clinton – largely because she is so loathsome to most Americans and will be limited in her ability to govern radically – we live to fight another day; with Trump the risks to conservative values, Israel, and the world loom very great.

  26. I’m a frum person and I’m voting for Hillary.
    We’ve all become a victim of hysteria that is so removed from reality. We believe all the hyper right wing memes…
    I think Hillary is very very flawed but Trump is so beyond the pale.

  27. I’m a frum person. And I’m voting for Trump. Because there’s only on thing that really matter and that’s the Torah. All the things you mentioned are fine and dandy and don’t have explicit mention in the Torah. But there is one thing you utterly failed to note. That is Abortion. Hillary Clinton: believes in killing unborn babies right up to pregnancy. Donald Trump: He follows the Torah; no abortion whatsoever. So are you really frum? Then you go how the Torah says. Good luck!

  28. I’m a Frum Conservative, and I will be voting for Donald Trump. You can talk to your blue in the face, but its a binary election and trump is the better option.

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