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Doug Emhoff says wife Kamala Harris supports Israel 'in her soul' and passes gut-check for Jewish priorities

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Doug Emhoff says wife Kamala Harris supports Israel 'in her soul' and passes gut-check for Jewish priorities

In an 11th-hour pitch to Jewish voters, second gentleman Doug Emhoff told a crowd in Pennsylvania that his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, “feels it in her gut” what it means to support Israel. 

“Let me be direct and answer the question that Jews have asked for generations. Yes, she feels it in her gut. Kamala feels it, as we say, in her kishkes,” Emhoff said during an address in Pittsburgh.

The so-called gut test came up during the days of former President Barack Obama, when some Jews questioned how deep his support for Israel was. 

“Her commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering. Not just because of what she said publicly, though she has said through her entire career, consistently, but also by what she does and says when it’s just us,” Emhoff said. 

The address was timed to coincide with the six-year anniversary of the devastating shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, which was last Sunday. Both Harris and former President Donald Trump have been courting Jewish voters unsettled by the conflict in the Middle East.

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Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, flanked by Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

Historically, the religious voting bloc has favored Democrats. About 7 in 10 voted for President Biden in 2020. A Pew Research poll from last month put their support for Harris at over two-thirds. 

“I know it’s in her soul. I know she feels what you and I and Jews across America are feeling today. She gets it. And to tell you the truth, it’s not because she married a nice Jewish boy,” Emhoff said. 

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“After Charlottesville, after the Tree of Life, after Oct. 7, the person that I turned to and talked to was my wife, after Hamas brutally executed Hirsch and the other hostages. She and I grieved together,” he went on.

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He then turned to the “threat” he said Trump poses to Jews.

“Whenever chaos and cruelty are given a green light, Jew-hatred is historically not far behind,” Emhoff said of the Republican nominee. “That matters today because Donald Trump is nothing if not an agent of chaos and cruelty.”

“We should never have to wonder where our government stands,” he continued. 

“We should never have to wonder whether our leaders are praising Nazis behind closed doors. So when Donald Trump says something unhinged, do not roll your eyes. Roll up your sleeves,” he said. 

“Her commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering. Not just because of what she said publicly, though she has said through her entire career, consistently, but also by what she does and says when it’s just us,” second gentleman Doug Emhoff said of his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

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Emhoff was referring to a report from The Atlantic, where Trump reportedly said, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.” 

While Jewish voters as a whole tend to favor liberals, orthodox Jews are expected to largely support Trump in next week’s election. A poll by Nishma Research, which surveys Orthodox Jews, found some 77% support Trump. 

Pennsylvania has some 300,000 voting-age Jewish residents. Around 80,000 votes separated Biden and Trump in 2020. 

The Trump team has held out hope they can chip away at Democratic support within the Jewish community. Trump himself has reacted with disbelief that Jewish voters support Democrats. 

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Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have been courting Jewish voters unsettled by the conflict in the Middle East. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“It doesn’t make sense,” Trump said last month of Jews who vote for Harris. “Any Jewish person who votes for her should have their head examined. I find it hard to believe. Part of it is a habit, I think.”

“I’m not going to call this a prediction, but, in my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss” in November, he said. 

Harris has walked a tight rope between maintaining support for Israel and Jewish priorities and trying to avoid upsetting Arab American voters, who represent a large voting bloc in swing state Michigan. 

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Some Arab American voters, fed up with the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza, have said they will vote for Trump as a form of protest. A new poll from the Arab News Research and Studies Unit found Trump leading among Arab American voters 43 to 41%. 

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Vermont

How UVM hockey teams fared Jan. 9-10 — Schedule, scores, results

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How UVM hockey teams fared Jan. 9-10 — Schedule, scores, results


UVM welcomes Adrian Dubois as new men’s soccer coach

Adrian Dubois answers questions from the media following his introductory press conference on Monday, Dec. 22.

Conference play is in full swing to both Vermont basketball and hockey teams. Vermont basketball and women’s basketball both have a bye on Saturday, Jan. 10, meaning only the hockey teams are in action.

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How did those Catamounts men’s and women’s hockey teams fare this weekend? For schedule, scores and stats from all games, read on below:

FRIDAY, JAN. 9

Women’s hockey

Vermont 4, Merrimack 1

V: Oona Havana 2G. Kaylee Lewis 1G. Rose-Marie Brochu 1G. Julia Mesplede 2A. Stella Retrum 1A. Lauren O’Hara 1A. Brooke George 1A. Ashley Kokavec 1A. Zoe Cliche 19 saves.

M: Emma Pfeffer 1G. Stina Sandberg 1A. Avery Anderson 1A. Lauren Lyons 39 saves.

Note: The women’s hockey team has won three straight games securing its largest win streak of the season.

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Men’s hockey

Vermont 3, Northeastern 2

V: Sebastian Tornqvist 1G, 2A. Jens Richards 1G. Massimo Lombardi 1G. Colin Kessler 1A. Aiden Wright 1A. Jack Malinski 1A. Cedrick Guindon 1A. Aiden Wright 20 saves.

N: Joe Connor 1G. Amine Hajibi 1G. Jack Henry 1A. Tyler Fukakusa 1A. Dylan Hryckowian 1A. Dylan Finlay 1A. Lawton Zacher 21 saves.

Note: The men’s hockey team has won two straight games for the first time since winning its first two games of the season (Oct. 4-10).

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SATURDAY, JAN. 10

Women’s hockey

Vermont at Merrimack, 2 p.m.

Men’s hockey

Northeastern at Vermont, 7 p.m.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.

Contact Judith Altneu at JAltneu@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.





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Boston, MA

Boston’s new city council president talks about election and upcoming term

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Boston’s new city council president talks about election and upcoming term


The Boston City Council is setting out on a new two-year term with a new council president at the helm.

City Councilor Liz Breadon, who represents District 9, won the gavel on a 7-6 contested vote, cobbling together her candidacy just hours before the council was set to vote.

“An opportunity presented itself and I took it,” Breadon said. “We’re in a very critical time, given politics, and I really feel that in this moment, we need to set steady leadership, and really to bring the council together.”

The process apparently including backroom conversations and late-night meetings as City Councilors Gabriella Coletta Zapata and Brian Worrell both pushed to become the next council president.

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Breadon spoke on why support waned for her two colleagues.

“I think they had support that was moving,” said Breadon. “It was moving back and forward, it hadn’t solidified solidly in one place. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the moment.”

Political commentator Sue O’Connell talks about the last-minute maneuvering before the upset vote and what it says about Mayor Michelle Wu’s influence.

Some speculated that Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration was lobbying for a compromise candidate after Coletta Zapata dropped out of the race. Breadon disputes the mayor’s involvement.

“I would say not,” said Breadon. “I wasn’t in conversation with the mayor about any of this.”

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Beyond the election, Breadon took a look ahead to how she will lead the body. Controversy has been known to crop up at City Hall, most recently when former District 7 Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges tied to a kickback scheme involving taxpayer dollars.

Breadon said it’s critical to stay calm and allow the facts to come out in those situations.

“I feel that it’s very important to be very deliberative in how we handle these things and not to sort of shoot from the hip and have a knee-jerk reaction to what’s happening,” said Breadon.

Tune in Sunday at 9:30 am for our extended @Issue Sitdown with Breadon, when we dig deeper into how her candidacy came together, the priorities she’ll pursue in the role and which colleagues she’ll place in key council positions.

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Pittsburg, PA

O’Connor vows Pittsburgh won’t cooperate with ICE

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O’Connor vows Pittsburgh won’t cooperate with ICE


Days after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor reaffirmed that he will not cooperate with ICE.

Former Mayor Ed Gainey had taken the same position.

“My stance never changed,” O’Connor told TribLive on Friday. “We’re not going to cooperate.”

O’Connor said the same thing on the campaign trail, promising his administration would not partner with ICE.

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“My priority is to turn the city around and help it grow,” O’Connor said. “For us, it’s got to be focusing on public safety in the city of Pittsburgh.”

President Donald Trump has sent a surge of federal officers into Minneapolis, where tensions have escalated sharply.

O’Connor said he had spoken this week with Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, who heads the Democratic Mayors Association. The group has condemned ICE’s actions in the wake of Wednesday’s fatal encounter in Minneapolis, where an ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old Nicole Macklin Good, a U.S. citizen described as a poet and mother.

“Mayors are on the ground every day working to keep our communities safe,” the association said in a statement Thursday. “If Trump were serious about public safety, he would work with our cities, not against them. If he were serious, he would stop spreading propaganda and lies, and end the fear, the force, and the federal overreach.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has come out strongly against the Trump administration and ICE, penning an op-ed piece for the New York Times with the headline, “I’m the Mayor of Minneapolis. Trump Is Lying to You.”

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said an ICE officer shot Good in self-defense. Noem described the incident as “domestic terrorism” carried out against ICE officers and claimed Good tried to “run them over and rammed them with her vehicle.”

The circumstances of the incident are in dispute.

In December, ICE agents were involved in a scuffle in Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington neighborhood as they arrested a Latino man.

According to neighbors, two unmarked vehicles sandwiched a white Tacoma in the 400 block of Norton Street, broke the driver’s side window, pulled a man from the vehicle and got into a physical altercation. Pepper spray was deployed and seemed to get in the eyes of both the man being detained and at least one immigration agent.

At least some of the officers on the scene in that incident belong to ICE.

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They targeted the man, Darwin Alexander Davila-Perez, a Nicaraguan national, for claiming to be a U.S. citizen while trying to buy a gun, according to court papers.



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