George Santos (Facebook)
The past year was no different than any other. There was what now seems to be an annual round of Knesset elections in Israel and the year there ended with Benjamin Netanyahu returning to power. Donald Trump continued to claim the 2020 elections were stolen and declared himself a candidate for President again, while Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump made it clear they would not be taking part in his campaign.
And for American Jews in politics, a lot happened. A U.S. Supreme Court Justice retired. A senator probably should retire and a newly elected congressman who said he was Jewish might not be after all.
Here is the Jewish Business News list of the 10 most interesting news stories about Jewish Americans in politics from 2022.
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10 – Stephen Breyer Retired from Supreme Court
In January, Justice Stephen Breyer, the senior liberal member of the U.S. Supreme Court, revealed his decision to retire. At the age of 83, he was the Supreme Court’s oldest member at the time.
There had been a growing call among Democrats and the liberal left in America for Justice Breyer to step aside while the Democrats still have a majority in the U.S. Senate. The democrats do not want a repeat of what happened with Ruther Bader Ginsburg in 2016. And, at the time, it seemed the Democrats would lose control of the Senate in 2022, but they actually gained a seat instead…Read More Here
9 – Anthony Weiner Tried a Comeback
Possibly the weirdest American Jewish political story of 2022 was how disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner tried to make a comeback in yet another attempt to be a radio political talk show host.
Yes, that Anthony Weiner! The former Congressman. The one who was forced to resign after he was caught sending pictures of himself in his underpants to young women. Unsolicited pictures. The man who at first lied and said that his phone must have been hacked and the pictures stolen. The narcissistic man child who just assumed that any woman who saw his private parts would lose all self-control and come running to him. The one who was then forced to resign from Congress after more than 12 years of service once the truth came out…Read More Here
Fortunately, it failed and he was canned.
8 – Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein is the senior Democratic Senator from the State of California. She has served in the Senate for 30 years. But Dianne Feinstein is also 88 years old and has been showing signs of her age in recent years, leaving many to speculate that she may have no choice but to soon step down from office.
More and more, Dianne Feinstein is appearing to be confused – even lost – when she speaks in public. Forgetting people’s names and so forth is not unusual for someone her age. But in the Senator’s case, the situation is so severe that many are concerned that she might be suffering from dementia. Some of her Senate colleagues have reportedly said that they need to reintroduce themselves to Feinstein on more than one occasion and her aids have been said to need to constantly remind her of where she is and what is going on around her… Read More Here
7 – WhatsApp Founder Jan Koum Makes Record Donation To AIPAC
In July it was revealed that Jan Koum the man who brought the world WhatsApp, made a record setting $2 million donation to the America Israel Public Affairs Committee – AIPAC. Specifically, the money was donated to AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project. Previously, the largest donation that this super PAC received was $1 million.
The funds donated by Jan Koum are will be used to help pro-Israel Democratic political candidates in the various primary races in which they are running…Read More Here
Steven Spielberg Arnold Spielberg Courtesy Amblin Entertainment
6 – Steven Spielberg Donated Big to Pro Choice
In 2022, Oscar winning director Steven Spielberg was a big supporter of the recent campaign to preserve abortion rights in the State of Kansas. He personally donated $25,000 to one pro-choice group and so did his wife, the actress Kate Capshaw.
(Kate Capshaw converted to Judaism when she married Steven Spielberg.)
Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw were just 2 of many people who took sides in the recent ballot initiative held in Kansas. Had it passed, the initiative would have ratified a new amendment to the Kansas state constitution that would allow the state legislature to enact legislation banning abortion. According to AP, $22 million was spent by both sides over the course of the election. But this is… Read More Here
5 – Mark Cuban Told off Elizabeth Warren
Also in 2022, the outspoken and mercurial billionaire businessman Mark Cuban was not happy with Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts’ proposal to add new taxes on America’s billionaires. The billionaire owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks actually said “screw you” to Senator Warren in an interview.
Democrats like Elizabeth Warren have not been shy at all when it comes to voicing their opinion that America’s wealthiest 1 percent do not pay their fair share in taxes and should be taxed more. In an interview with CNBC a few months ago, Senator Warren said, “When you make it big … let’s also ask that you pay a fair share in taxes. The 99% pay about 7.2% of their total wealth… Read More Here
4 – Ronald Lauder Led Rich Jews in Dumping Trump
Jewish billionaires Ronald Lauder and Stephen Schwarzman in 2022 got off the Donald Trump bandwagon, the dump Trump bandwagon that is. They were among the growing list of Republican mega-donors in America who will not be funding Donald Trump’s presidential run this time around.
Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the Republication nomination for president in 2024 earlier this week. Trump continues to claim that he actually won the 2020 elections and that they were somehow stolen from him. But he also… Read More Here
3 – George Soros Donated Big To Dems In 2022
The Democratic Party may have George Soros to thank for its win in the 2022 mid-term elections. The Democrats actually gained seats in the Senate and lost control of the U.S. House of Representatives by the slimmest of margins in spite of a bad economy and President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings. And George Soros donated millions to ensure that this would happen.
Politico reported that George Soros gave $50 million to the super PAC Democracy PAC. And this was in addition to another $15 million that he had previously donated to support the Democratic Party. No wonder conservatives… Read More Here
2 – Jared Kushner Takes Credit for All the Good
Jared Kushner, the husband of Ivanka Trump and former White House advisor to Donald Trump, made many revelations in his upcoming book “Breaking History: A White House Memoir,” which came out on August 23. According to Jared, he should get credit for anything good that happened when Trump was President. Apparently, Kushner is the man who made the peace between Israel and a number of Arab nations in the Abraham Accords and also had absolutely nothing to do with the January riots… Read More Here
1 – George Santos
It’s a gift that keeps on giving with new revelations coming out all the time. So, this was a no brainer for the JBN number one Jewish American political story of 2022.
George Santos, the newly elected U.S. Congressman from Long Island who claims to be the grandson of Holocaust survivors, is running around trying to damage control over his habitual lying. And while he is doing that Santos may also be under federal criminal investigation…Read More Here
