President Biden's decision to withdraw from the presidential race for the good of the country is a historic moment, one that brings us closer to the safe, welcoming, and thriving future we deserve.
In just one day, Biden’s decision has already re-energized the nation. President Biden knows how to defeat Trump. And he’s helping us do it again by recommending the person he beat Trump with four years ago, Vice President Kamala Harris. Donations are pouring in and volunteers are stepping up, and after many difficult months, the Democratic base is emerging with a new sense of what’s possible. And we’re seeing an opportunity for VP Harris to hold this historic moment by building the progressive policy platform to inspire Americans.
That energy is more important than ever because our adversaries are preparing to run the most openly racist and antisemitic campaign in recent memory, with plans to weaponize the Supreme Court to hand Trump unprecedented power for corruption and abuse and use Project 2025 to fill every office of government with Trump loyalists. Trump’s choice for Vice President, JD Vance, is a choice to double down on racism, antisemitism, and the assault on reproductive rights and LGBTQ people. And in the 24 hours alone since Harris entered the race, the GOP has already targeted her with the same old racist and antisemitic playbook, this time against a Black, Indian-American woman with an immigrant parent and what could be the first Jewish family in the White House.
But these identities, paired with VP Harris’ leadership and a transformational vision, won’t just be a target for the far-right white nationalists who have swallowed the Republican party. It will be a multifaith, multiracial movement that embodies the vision for the future that most Americans will be fired up to organize and win.
For years, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action has been building tools, training people, and shifting the narratives for this very moment. To beat Trump in 2020, we ran the largest Jewish grassroots campaign in the nation — and won. Our base made nearly 5 million calls and texts, filling over 6,650 volunteer shifts across swing states and competitive races. We reached another 3 million with ads to inspire Jewish voters. Together, we helped organize a record-breaking 77% of Jewish voters for President Biden, a seven point increase since 2016. We didn’t stop there. Our local groups worked directly with 17 campaigns, helping to win races for 36 candidates, including flipping two seats in the Senate while raising nearly $1M with 2,800 donations.
As home to the nation’s first and only Jewish PAC to advocate exclusively for a progressive domestic agenda, we know that if we want to defeat white supremacy and antisemitism, we need the biggest base possible. President Biden’s brave step puts us on a path to building that base. One where thousands more will join us on the streets, outside our congregations, at our stoops, across our dinner tables, and on our devices to do everything we can to stop Trump and build the nation we dream of.
