Mike Pence Makes Bid For Jewish Votes With Awkwardly Worded Hebrew Sign

By Thea Glassman September 8, 2016

Mike Pence wants to make America great again. Well, kind of.

The Republican vice presidential candidate was photographed holding a sign written in Hebrew that was supposed to read “Make America Great Again”—but translates roughly as “To Reverse America to Great Once More.” The first word on the bottom of the sign is a verb in its infinitive form, making it confusing to Hebrew speakers from the get go.

A second photograph was released by Donald Trump’s campaign team, featuring Pence on a plane touting a “Jews Love Trump” sign.

The Indiana governor was given a quick Hebrew lesson by one of his Jewish aides during the flight as well, delivering a message to Americans living in Israel saying: “You have a real chance to influence the outcome. I call on all American voters in Israel to register online quickly, so that you can vote and have influence.”

The pictures and message are just a small piece in the Republican candidate’s massive push for Israeli-American support. According to Haaretz, the Trump team in Israel has invested thousands of dollars in hopes of snagging absentee ballots in swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.

A recent poll shows Hillary Clinton leading with 43.1 percent of support from Israeli Jews, and Trump clocking in with 34.2 percent.

Thea Glassman is a Multimedia Fellow at the Forward. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @theakglassman.

Thea Glassman was an associate editor for the Forward. Follow her on twitter @theakglassman.

A message from our CEO & publisher 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.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

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