Former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, a Democrat who represented Broward in Tallahassee and Washington for more than two decades, has endorsed former President Donald Trump’s attempt to return to power.
Deutsch didn’t hold back, asserting that electing Vice President Kamala Harris would jeopardize the security of the United States and Israel.
“I think electing Kamala Harris president of the United States makes the world a much less safe place,” he said. “I take this decision very, very seriously. I also feel 100% comfortable with the decision.”
Deutsch is an Orthodox Jew who said he lives part-time — and records show still votes — in South Florida. He lives much of the time in Israel. He spoke in a telephone news conference arranged by the Trump campaign as part of its effort to court Jewish voters and in a subsequent telephone interview. Whether or not Deutsch’s conclusions are correct, his endorsement is one of the latest examples of a long-term Republican strategy of attempting to lure Jewish voters away from the Democratic Party.
“There are plenty of issues which I can talk about that I’m much more comfortable with President Trump’s position than Vice President Harris’s position, including school choice, including the immigration policies. But by far the driving force for me to make this decision is what I believe is the most important factor in being president — the most important job of being president — which is really world peace.”
In Deutsch’s view, President Joe Biden and Harris have been too easy on Iran, which he said poses a threat to both the U.S. and Israel. “Kamala Harris and the Harris-Biden administration — in terms of what they have done and what they’re doing … make the world a dramatically less safe place.”
Deutsch repeatedly referred to the “Harris-Biden administration,” a rhetorical suggestion that she, and not the president, is responsible for U.S. policy.
“It’s not just about what is happening in the Middle East. It’s literally about the homeland, it’s about Israel. Iran — their enemy is not just Israel — their enemy remains the United States. They still want to destroy the United States,” he said.
Deutsch said that “Harris-Biden administration” policies toward Iran would “make Neville Chamberlain proud,” a highly charged assertion. Chamberlain was a British prime minister who appeased Nazi Germany during its rise.
“For what I believe is the most important job of the president of the United States, which is try to retain peace in the world, there is an extraordinarily clear choice that I think every American hopefully will come to the same conclusion that I have, that President Trump should become the next president of the United States,” Deutsch said. “When Vice President Harris or President Biden says they have Israel’s back, that is not consistent with the things that they’re doing in terms of supporting Iran.”
In her first interview after becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris told CNN in August that she was “unequivocal and — and unwavering in my commitment to Israel’s defense and its ability to defend itself. And that’s not gonna change.”
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a Palm Beach County Democrat who is Jewish and a strong supporter of Israel, rejected the suggestion that Harris is not a supporter and defender of Israel.
“There is no question in my mind that Kamala Harris has and will continue to stand solidly for the safety and security of Israel,” Frankel said via email.
“The Biden/Harris Administration has worked hand-in-hand with Congress to deliver the necessary military assistance to Israel as she has been attacked by Iran and its proxies. The Administration has moved military assets to help intercept the thousands of missiles fired by Iran and has sent the message that the US has an inseparable bond with Israel,” Frankel said.
Frankel and Deutsch are long acquainted; they had overlapping tenure decades ago in the state House of Representatives in Tallahassee.
She said she was concerned by attempts to make support for Israel a partisan issue. “Using Israel as a political football is a dangerous game,” Frankel said.
Former State Rep. Rick Stark, a vice president of the Florida Democratic Party Jewish Caucus and chair of its Broward chapter, said Trump is the candidate who is not a reliable supporter of Israel.
“Donald Trump has a tendency to do what’s good for Donald Trump. And you know he likes flattery and wants yes men. If the Israeli government doesn’t want to do what Donald Trump wants to do or flatter his ego, he’ll leave them in the dust like he does everybody else.”
Impact
Deutsch’s endorsement generated some headlines from news sites aimed at the Jewish community and from conservative and far-right websites. But that doesn’t mean it will have much, if any impact.
Harris supporters downplayed the significance of Deutsch’s move, with some suggesting a pronouncement by someone who’s been out of office as long as the former congressman didn’t warrant much, if any, attention.
Others said they didn’t think it would have much impact because so many voters’ minds are settled.
“I don’t think it’s moving any voters. I don’t think the endorsement is going to have any real political value. He’s been out of office a long time, and he’s primarily a resident of Israel and not the United States,” said Mitch Ceasar, whose 20 years as Broward Democratic Party chair included much of Deutsch’s time in elected office.
In one sense, “it’s significant when a former member of Congress and lifelong Democrat endorses a Republican,” said Sean Foreman, a political scientist at Barry University.
But, Foreman said, there are some caveats including his decades out of office. And, he said, “we’re in an era where endorsements really don’t matter much any more — unless you’re talking about Taylor Swift. Endorsements from local politicians don’t register with voters these days. I don’t think it’s going to move many voters.”
Harris campaign
The Harris campaign pointed to the prominent Republicans, including national security officials and foreign policy leaders that have worked for multiple past Republican presidents, who have warned that Trump is a threat to democracy, policies he’s proposed would tank the U.S. economy, hurt the U.S. standing in the world — and have endorsed Harris.
Most prominently, former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, has endorsed Harris and campaigned with her.
Former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, a Republican who represented St. Petersburg and Clearwater, attended a Harris campaign event last month in The Villages headlined by the vice president’s husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
“The Harris coalition is America’s coalition. In Vice President Harris, we have someone who’s willing to fight for an economy and a tax code for all Americans, for access to health care and education and housing, representing strong U.S. ideals on the world stage with a certain moral foundation,” Jolly said in a statement provided by the Harris campaign.
The Harris campaign said 300 to 400 Floridians were on a Republicans for Harris organizing call last month. And a spokesperson said, of the 154,000 Florida volunteers who have signed up via the campaign and the Democratic National Committee, 6% are Republicans.
Jewish voters
Jewish voters have consistently been among the groups most likely to vote, and highly likely to support Democratic candidates. Republicans have been attempting for decades to chip away at that Democratic advantage, and they’ve had some success, Foreman said.
Democrats have lost a “small portion of Jewish voters over the situation in Israel. And they’re not going to win them back with promises of a new policy under a Harris administration. So you almost as Democrats have to let those Jewish voters go. You’ve lost them to Trump if that’s their No. 1 issue. Instead, now you need to replace them with other voters who are on board with your Democratic message,” Forman said.
Stark also said Republicans, including Trump, are getting more support than they once did from Jewish voters. “We all have it in our families. We have close friends, relatives who are very pro-Trump.”
He’s perplexed by their support for Trump. “When Donald Trump made that statement, if he loses the Jews are going to be partially to blame, that’s awful. I don’t understand how they can support him just based on that one statement.”
And, Stark said, the overwhelming majority of Jewish voters “are going to stay with the Democrats.”
A poll of Jewish voters in the seven battleground states likely to decide the outcome of the presidential election found Harris leading Trump 71% to 26%. Harris was ahead among Reform, Conservative and unaffiliated Jewish voters. Trump was ahead among Orthodox Jewish voters.
The poll, conducted by the public opinion research and political strategy firm GBAO for the Jewish Democratic Council of America, was released Wednesday. Reform, Conservative and unaffiliated Jewish voters said the future of democracy was the most important issue when deciding how to vote. For the Orthodox, inflation and the economy was the top issue.
Former state Rep. Elaine Schwartz of Hollywood, president of the Hills Democratic Club, attributed Republican gains among Jewish voters to “a campaign of mendacity and lies and how successful it is. The Republicans have very successfully and intentionally tried to get the religious Jewish community to switch to be Republican.”
She said that’s been especially effective with younger Orthodox Jews. There are many more Reform and Conservative Jewish Americans, the Pew Research Center reports, but the greatest growth among young people is Orthodox.
Schwartz said the beliefs of many Orthodox Jews on the role of women, opposition to abortion, support for public subsidies for religious schools make the Republican Party a better fit than the Democratic Party.
She doesn’t attribute that to Trump. “They’re there already. I don’t think it’s just Trump. It’s a Republican plan and they’ve carried it out successfully. In my heart I believe they’re more comfortable in the Republican Party.”
Still a Democrat
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign national press secretary, praised Deutsch for his “outspoken support for President Trump” and said he was “speaking common sense during a time in which the Democrat(ic) Party seems to be lacking it.”
Deutsch described himself as “a loyal Democrat for literally 50 years” and said he saw no need “to defend my Democratic credentials.”
He declined to say if he voted for Trump, Biden, someone else, or didn’t vote for president in 2020. “It’s a secret ballot,” Deutsch said. When pressed, he added that “the only Republican that I remember voting for in my entire life was Ronald Reagan against Jimmy Carter.”
Unlike Trump, who keeps repeating false claims that he won the 2000 election, Deutsch said there is no doubt that Biden was the legitimate winner. “At the same time I can acknowledge that Donald Trump feels like he was cheated out of the election,” he said. “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean you’re wrong.”
Deutsch said he based that on major national news organizations not pursuing an October 2020 story by the conservative New York Post reporting on emails found on Hunter Biden’s laptop that detailed his business dealings in Ukraine. Hunter Biden is Joe Biden’s son. The social media company then known as Twitter also prevented widespread dissemination of the New York Post article.
And, Deutsch said, he wasn’t opposing all Democrats.
“I intend to vote for lots of Democrats in this (election) cycle, including (Congresswoman) Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and including (Broward) Sheriff (Gregory) Tony, Josh Levy as mayor of Hollywood,” he said. “There are lots of Democrats I support. I’m still a Democrat. I’m not becoming a Republican.”
Deutsch won’t actually be able to do what he said. Voter registration records show he became a Miami-Dade County registered voter in 2021, so he isn’t able to vote for Wasserman Schultz, Tony or Levy.
Anthony Man / Sun Sentinel
Former State Rep. Rick Stark, a vice president of the Florida Democratic Party Jewish Caucus and chair of its Broward chapter, said Trump is the candidate who is not a reliable supporter of Israel. (Anthony Man/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Who is Deutsch?
Deutsch, 67, once was a well-known presence in Democratic politics, especially in Broward County.
He served six terms in the U.S. House after five terms in the Florida House of Representatives. He likely would have had a much longer congressional career, but in 2004 didn’t seek reelection and instead sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
Deutsch lost 65 of Florida’s 67 counties and finished a distant second in the primary, receiving 27.9% of the vote. He narrowly won Miami-Dade County, and received 63.8% of the vote in his home base in Broward.
Four years later, he mounted an unsuccessful effort to oust Ceasar as Broward Democratic Party chair. Ceasar was reelected with 65% of the vote.
After leaving office, Deutsch founded publicly funded English-Hebrew charter schools in South Florida.
Although their last names are pronounced the same, Deutsch is not the former U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, who used to represent Broward and Palm Beach counties and is now the CEO of the American Jewish Committee. When Ted Deutch was first elected five years after Peter Deutsch left office, some occasionally conflated them.
Deutsch’s most lasting impact may be the career of U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston.
When he was in the state House of Representatives, she was his legislative aide. When he ran for Congress, she ran for and won his seat in the state House. When he ran for Senate, Wasserman Schultz was elected to the job, becoming the first Jewish woman from Florida elected to Congress, and is now the longest-serving Democrat in the Florida Congressional Delegation.
And Wasserman Schultz is a prominent Harris supporter. Deutsch said he’s spoken with members of Congress about his decision to endorse Trump, but declined to say who. He said Wasserman Schultz has considered him a mentor, but he’s “not sure” she would say that now.
Wasserman Schultz, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.
Ceasar said Deutsch’s support of Trump was “mildly surprising.”
“Peter has always been a rebel. And this does not stray far from his previous mode of operation,” Ceasar said. “Maybe he wants to be Trump’s guy in Israel. And if you look at it through that lens, then the endorsement may make more sense.”
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.
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