Hymie’s, a popular Philadelphia Jewish deli, raised some Jewish hackles when it served as the scene of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s closing ad — featuring Jewish actors playing older women who, after supporting Democrats, were switching their votes to Donald Trump.
So 10 days later, a Democratic organization stepped in to film a pro-Kamala Harris ad at the same deli, featuring real Jewish people from Pennsylvania — one of seven swing states both parties are closely focused on ahead of Tuesday’s close-fought election.
Former Gov. Ed Rendell, the state’s Democratic governor from 2003 to 2011, launches the Harris ad by sitting in a booth and contemplating his favorite Hymie’s offering, a turkey special. “They’re the best,” he says.
Lita Cohen — who served as a Republican in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1993 to 2002 — says her preference is the lox and bagels, but adds immediately, “I’m very upset with that recent Trump ad that stereotypes Jewish people,” a reference to local unhappiness with the deli for allowing the RJC to use its premises.
“Me too, it was really offensive,” says Silvi Specter, whose grandfather was U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a longtime Republican who late in his career became a Democrat to help pass President Barack Obama’s health care reform.
Ken Silver, a past chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party, leans in from another booth. “It’s been years of this!” He mentions Trump’s response to the 2017 neo-Nazi Charlottesville rally, in which Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides.”
“We can’t have four more years of Trump embracing antisemitism, chaos and violence,” Rendell says. “It’s not good for our country and it’s sure not good for Israel.”
The Patriot Majority ad was shared by Michael Smerconish, a Pennsylvania-based political commentator on CNN and Sirius XM. “It was inevitable — here’s the Kamala Harris rebuttal to a pro-Donald Trump RJC ad running in swing states, filmed in the same suburban Philadelphia deli (Hymies) but featuring locals, including Gov. Ed Rendell,” Smerconish said.
The ad is paid for by Patriot Majority USA, a political action committee founded 14 years ago to counter the rise of the Tea Party, which was then in the early stages of becoming very influential within the Republican Party. The PAC did not return requests for comment; nor did Specter, who is now a marketing consultant.
Each ad seeks to identify the other party’s nominee with extremes: the RJC ad ties Vice President Kamala Harris to the anti-Israel protesters roiling campuses. “Oy vey,” one of the three actors says. “Trump I never cared for, but at least he’ll keep us safe.” That ad ends with the three women raising their mugs to a vote for Trump.
The RJC acknowledged that the women, whom it referred to as “bubbies,” are actors but said they were all Jewish and voting for Trump. It would not make them available for interviews.
The Patriot Majority ad similarly ends with all four people in the ad united in purpose. “I’m glad we all agree, Harris for President,” Rendell says as he reaches across the table and clutches Cohen’s hand.
