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The Exodus Movement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Exodus Movement
TypePolitical initiative
Key people
Elizabeth Pipko
FundingRed Sea Rising PAC[1]
Websitetheexodusmovement.com
Formerly called
Jexodus

The Exodus Movement (formerly known as Jexodus), is an American right-wing political campaign aimed at encouraging Jews to leave the Democratic Party. Spokesperson Elizabeth Pipko states that "overwhelmingly, the Jewish people have supported Democrats over the years," she believes that the Republican Party can make inroads.[1][2] In the 2018 midterm election 79% of Jewish voters supported Democratic candidates.[3]

History

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Jexodus was launched in early March 2019 at the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).[1][2]

In 2019, the Jexodus website stated their mission as "Jexodus is a non-partisan nonprofit that unites people of good will – regardless of faith, ethnicity, identity, and political affiliation – around the simple, formerly non-controversial idea that Anti-Semitism must never be mainstreamed by the media or by any political party."[4]

The organization was started by Jeff Ballabon, an advisor to Donald Trump and a Republican Party lobbyist.[1][5] Elizabeth Pipko, a Trump supporter,[6] is the group's spokesperson.[1][7] Jexodus has been criticized as "likely a clumsy astroturf effort rather than an actual grassroots movement", in part because the Jexodus website was registered November 5, 2018 – before the congressional election and before those representatives it accused of anti-Semitism had even been elected.[8][9][10] On March 12, 2019, Trump tweeted his support of the movement.[11] Jexodus has been described as "far right" by Haaretz[6] and as "fringe" by Yahoo! News.[7]

Jexodus became The Exodus Movement on March 21, 2019.[1] The name change came after widespread ridicule of the name "Jexodus" for the redundancy of calling for a "Jewish Exodus" when The Exodus was Jewish to begin with.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (2019-03-22). "From a Swimsuit Model to the Trump Megaphone: The Genesis of 'Jexodus'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  2. ^ a b Eli Rosenberg (March 15, 2019). "Trump and the GOP are trying to make 'Jexodus' happen, but most Jews still vote Democratic". Washington Post.
  3. ^ Abrams, Abigail (2019-03-15). "Jewish Voters Still Back Democrats, Despite Trump's Claims About 'Jexodus'". Time. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
  4. ^ "Jexodus - The Official Website - Say NO to Mainstreaming Anti-Semitism". Jexodus. Archived from the original on December 3, 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  5. ^ Kampeas, Ron. "Trump touts 'Jexodus' group urging Jews to bolt Democratic Party". www.timesofisrael.com.
  6. ^ a b Sommer, Allison Kaplan (March 12, 2019). "Explained: Jexodus, the Far-right Group Calling for U.S. Jews to Be Released From Left-wing Bondage". Haaretz.
  7. ^ a b "Trump promotes model's fringe 'Jexodus' campaign encouraging Jews to leave Democratic Party". Yahoo!. 12 March 2019.
  8. ^ Talia Lavin (March 14, 2019), "Why the GOP Isn't Getting the Jewish Vote Anytime Soon", GQ.com, Condé Nast, retrieved March 24, 2019, it's an operation entirely engineered by conservative flacks, doing its best to masquerade as an authentic grassroots movement.
  9. ^ Jack Holmes (March 12, 2019), Trump's Patrick Moore Tweet Is Fox News Regurgitation at Its Most Dangerous, Esquire, retrieved 24 March 2019
  10. ^ Joshua Davidovich (12 March 2019), Right of passage: 8 things to know for March 12, The Times of Israel, retrieved 24 March 2019
  11. ^ "Trump Endorses 'Jexodus' Movement, Claiming Democrats 'Don't Care About Israel or Jewish People". Haaretz. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  12. ^ "Jexodus, We Hardly Knew Ye: Right-wing Jewish Movement Changes Name to Exodus". Haaretz. March 22, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
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