Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Back to Opinion

Was Ted Cruz Talking About the Jews When He Slammed ‘New York Values’?

(JTA) — In the very first episode of “The West Wing,” some of the president’s advisers engage in a heated argument with a group of Christian activists. Among the advisers are two of the show’s most prominent Jewish characters: White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler (played by Richard Schiff) and the Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (played by Bradley Whitford).

One of the Christian lobbyists — who had recently clashed with Josh on national television — accuses the White House staff of employing a “New York sense of humor” and thinking they’re “so much smarter” than everyone else.

“She meant Jewish,” Toby says with a sarcastic grin, “When she said ‘New York sense of humor.’”

Now, some are interpreting Sen. Ted Cruz’s invocation of “New York values” at Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate in a similar way.

Cruz accused Donald Trump, a New York City native whom he trails by about over 10 percentage points in national polls, of having such values during a night of sparring between the two candidates. He had made the accusation repeatedly in the week leading up to the debate.

“There are many, many wonderful working men and women in the state of New York. But everyone understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage and focus on money and the media,” Cruz said to the crowd at the Fox Business Network debate in South Carolina.

Trump came to New York’s defense, citing its response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

“When the World Trade Center came down, I saw something that no place on Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than New York,” Trump said to applause. “We rebuilt downtown Manhattan, and everybody in the world watched and everybody in the world loved New York and loved New Yorkers.”

Trump is not Jewish, but he does have plenty of Jewish ties, including to his daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Jezebel writer Joanna Rothkopf slammed Cruz’s rhetoric as anti-Semitic on Friday, comparing him to an “in-house comic at Fuhrer headquarters.”

“Babe, just say what you mean: Jewish, black, gay values,” Rothkopf wrote.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.