How Israel's wars are reshaping the Democratic Party

Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink Software, to design and develop engineered systems, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at Mathworks.com. WBUR Podcasts, Boston. Well, in these races where it's a left versus a more left candidate, it's one of the defining issues. Israel's wars in the Middle East could sway primary elections in New York. It's Monday, June 22nd, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR. I'm Chris Bentley.

A little later, we'll hear how a war of words between President Trump and Italy's prime minister could rupture the U.S. relationship with Trump's closest European ally. The support for Giorgia Meloni in this case was unanimous, left and non-law. right. Of course, the left also underlined that this is the result of Giorgia Meloni being subservient to Trump. But first, primary elections continue across the country tomorrow, and lots of eyes are on New York City, where Israel's wars in the Middle East have become a major campaign issue. Representative Dan Goldman of the 10th District is facing a primary challenger in Brad Lander, and Ben Oreskes of the New York Times, tells Lisa Mullins, it's a test of how the issue

might play out across the country. Yeah, it has become this axis or cleaving force in many races, both at the congressional level and even at the state legislative level, where you have candidates with, frankly, pretty similar views on a lot of issues, and the dividing line is their fidelity towards Israel or the interests supporting the country. And by that I mean APEC in groups like APEC. So specifically in the Brad Lander race, you have Brad Lander running, against Dan Goldman, Brad Lander ran for mayor last year, had been the city controller.

A mainstay of New York City politics had been on the city council. And in Dan Goldman, you have someone who won a seat in a very close primary, spent a lot of his own money, and has been a longtime supporter of Israel. Both of them are Jewish. And last year, we saw Brad Lander come very close to becoming mayor and forged this very close alliance with the current mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani. who has made a lot of noise for his criticisms of Israel. But in this race, which is one where he encouraged,

Zohran Mamdani encouraged Brad Lander to run, we have seen two men, both of whom are proud Zionists, actually, sort of try to find ways to differentiate each other from one another on this issue. And are there differences, faint differences? I mean, do they basically have the same line or no? Yeah, I mean, neither of them. is saying, I don't believe that there should be a Jewish state, which, again, is the sort of

and its prosecution of a war in the aftermath of October 7th and the terrorist attack that occurred in Israel. And Dan Goldman was not someone who was back the mayor. It was someone who was very resistant to doing that all the way up until Election Day, and even then he wouldn't back him. And so with that, difference, you know, we have seen this coalescing of support behind Brad Lander and all the polling

to this point suggests that Brad Lander is winning by a wide margin. So it's an interesting case study in how we're seeing an issue that, you know, obviously excites people, angers them, sort of define a race in one of the most Jewish districts in America, I would add as well. You mentioned several times Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, who backs Brad Lander, the candidate. Zohran Mamdani has had a tense relationship with parts of the Jewish community. Would you say that he is testing the strength of his political brand as a progressive kingmaker in this race, along with some of the races in New York City, where Israel has become such a flashpoint? Yeah, I mean, I think that in this race, the mayor wants to pick a winner, and Brad Lander is someone

who was very loyal to him during the primary last year. And I must add that Zohran Mamdani looked over him for a job in in city hall, but then was very encouraging of him running for this seat. But more broadly, when you look across the city, a host of state legislative races, Zohran Mamdani has taken a heavy hand and become very involved in picking candidates. And so with this, Zohran Mamdani is trying to use the political capital that he won and has to sort of grow his allies in Washington, in Albany. And you're right, there is a risk here. It's not because they could lose and there would suddenly be.

Republicans in these seats, but that he has tied his brand, his style of politics, and his worldview to these people. And in some cases, like the case of Brad Lander, we're likely to see him prevail. But in others, like Darylice Chavilliers in Upper Manat and against Adriano Espaillat, he might not prevail. And so it will be really interesting on election night or in the days after as we see the results come in to kind of do a scoreboard and check in on how his favorite candidates did. And what about the Democratic Party writ large? How do these races paint this larger picture of Israel's wars in the Middle East driving a wedge in the party? Well, in these races where it's a left versus a more left candidate, it's one of the defining issues.

And so we are watching foreign policy really dominate the conversation in races that will also, you know, sort of affect policy around affordability and many other things. New York Times reporter Ben Oreskes. Nice to talk to you. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Coming up next, Trump, a un Coyone. That's a headline from the far-right Italian paper Libero that I probably wouldn't be allowed to repeat in English, reflecting just how much the president angered his counterpart, Giorgia Meloni over the weekend. And dear Lakshmanan has more in just a minute.

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mintmobile.com slash switch. Taxes and fees extra. See MintMobile for details. alliance with the United States is at a breaking point after the country's far-right prime minister said President Trump had made up an unflattering story about her. Trump told the media that Giorgia Meloni had begged him for a photo at the G7 summit in France last week and that he only agreed because he felt sorry for her. Maloney retorted that that was a lie saying, I don't beg and Italy doesn't beg. As a result, Italy's foreign minister canceled a planned trip to the U.S. over the weekend and said he would not attend an upcoming economic conference in Miami. Federica Bindi served as a senior advisor to Italy's then foreign minister Franco Fratini.

She's now a professor at University of Rome, Tor, Vergata, and the University of Colorado Boulder. Frederica, welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me. So on Saturday, President Trump doubled down on this claim, writing on truth social that Maloney had asked him for a photo in order to improve her poll number. Why is Trump throwing a wrench in what had been his one good relationship in Europe? She was the one leader willing to stand up next to him and be seen as his ally. So I think this dates back to the request of the United States to use their own basis in the Italian territory to launch attacks on Iran, which the Italian government refused.

So he is upset at the Italian government. And of course, because Giorgia Meloni is a relatively young woman, you know, it's easy to attack her personally. Well, I wonder whether there was something of a sexist subtext of Trump's claim that Maloney was begging him for a photo. You mentioned her being a relatively young woman. She's also attractive. And she's one of the only women who was at that G7 leadership meeting. So is that part of it of Trump trying to single her out as being a. young and attractive woman who was interested in being photographed with him.

There is absolutely an element of that. I mean, any time that there is something against Giorgia Meloni, it's sexist. And Trump in particular is known for not being light on that. Let me ask you about the reaction in Italy. Tell us what the newspapers are saying and what the politicians are saying. Are they supporting Maloney or are they supporting Trump here? No, the support for Giorgia Meloni in this case was unanimous, left and right. Of course, the left also underlined that this is the result of Giorgia Meloni being subservient to Trump all these years.

But from the president down to the Communist Party, they all defended her and defended the Italian national interest. I understand that Deputy Prime Minister Mateo Salvini said on X that whoever attacks Giorgia Meloni attacks all of us. So in a way, this could be a unifying moment that actually helps Maloney's poll numbers much more than a photograph with Trump ever would have? Absolutely. I mean, this has boosted Giorgia Meloni. This is something that Giorgia Meloni desperately needed because her numbers were down.

She is attacked by the far, far right, this new Vanacchi guy. So this was perfect. You also have to consider that in Italy, eight out of ten Italians cannot stand Trump. So left and right, being insulted by Trump, is actually boost to your popularity. Well, Maloney took office four years ago, Italy's first female prime minister. She has remained closely allied with Trump since then. She was, in fact, the only EU leader to attend his second inauguration. Do you think this is now going to be a permanent rift in the relationship between Maloney and Trump?

So she has tried to do what the late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi did in its own time with George W. in his own second government, that is positioning himself as the middleman between Europe and the US. But of course, this doesn't work with a US president that is mercurial, that changed position on everything every minute, so it failed. and the rift is never permanent. In time, it will be mended. The interesting thing that we will have to watch for

in the incoming days and months is what Giorgia Meloni is going to do. Because if Italy stops being the US strongest allies and move towards the rest of some of the other European countries, then you can really have a big shift in European policies. I'm talking, for instance, Italy is one of the countries that is blocking the suspension of the EU-Israel agreement. If Italy breaks ranks, that could have enormous consequences on EU policymaking. So this is what we need to watch out.

So Trump insulting her, I think it will be snowball against him. Federica Bindi is a former Italian diplomat who's written numerous books on U.S. Italian relations. She's a professor at University of Rome-Tor Vergata and the University of Colorado Boulder. Federica, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me always in honor.

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Vanta gives you continuous coverage across every vendor automatically, so you actually know what's in your stack and what to do about it. AI on, risk off. Vanta.com slash TPRM. Lots more news we're following today over at here and now.org, including who's next in line after the resignation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the latest on the negotiations over the war in Iran. The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country.

You can find that at here and now.org, as well as how soccer players in the World Cup are dealing with dangerous heat and humidity. We're also talking about something that might help you avoid being cringe in your texts. Emoji etiquette. Monica Reardon is a psychology professor who studies digital emotional expressions. at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. Here's a bit of her conversation with Indira. People do inform impressions of you based on how you use emojis. So especially at the office, using emojis can help you seem more warm, more friendly, more approachable,

unless you use them in inappropriate ways in which people start questioning your competence level. Okay, well, let's talk about that because it feels like it could be a minefield. You say that emojis can increase clarity, but it feels like there's not necessarily a universal understanding of meaning when it comes to certain emojis. So talk about how different generations in the same workplace or even in the same family may use the same emojis in different ways. Oh, absolutely. I agree. There's no real universal meaning for emojis. I think we can agree on some things. The smiling emoji, for example, we should just interpret that as positive emotion. You know, sometimes it's surprise, sometimes it's happiness, but positive. in general.

But for any other individual emoji, I think your interpretation depends on a wide range of things. So the relationship between the person who's sending it and the person who's receiving it. Age matters, as you've mentioned, culture matters, the context of the conversation matters. So as one example, I had a student who sent me a message once saying, I did not use AI to complete this assignment,

and it was followed by a blue baseball cap emoji. and that means when they use that emoji, it means no cap, which of course that means they're telling the truth. Oh. Now you wouldn't know this unless you spend a lot of time with that generation and know how they are using emojis in different ways. Okay. Although I would think that no cap should be an X and then a cap, right? Because if you just use the cap, maybe it means you're lying. Yeah, now we're interpreting too many different things, right?

It's sort of, I often think of it as sort of like a slang word. You know, every generation has their own slang. And so the blue baseball cap emoji is just sort of their slang for no cap. So if there is a cap, then there's no cap. All right. Talk about the thumbs up emoji. I think a lot of people consider it just like, yes, sounds good, okay. But we were talking about this conversation in our office and some of the younger folks in the workplace said actually a thumbs up emoji.

can be passive aggressive for younger people. Explain that to me. Yes, this is absolutely 100% true. Younger generations tend to find the thumbs up emoji somewhat passive aggressive and they actually tend to prefer the heart emoji more. But older generations think the heart emoji is somewhat overkill. It's a little too much for a message. And there's even a bit of a mindfield here too, because in Western cultures, a thumbs up emoji is, like you said, a friendly acknowledgement. It's something closer to a lake button. But in other cultures, especially in the Middle Eastern culture, the thumbs up emoji is actually a very rude gesture. It's sort of something equivalent to up yours. So very negative and you should never use that with someone from Middle Eastern

cultures. So the context of the emoji obviously matters a great deal and how people interpret them is going to be filtered through their own social world as well. What about the skull emoji, which I have to say my kids taught me means something different from what I would have thought. I thought it would be like dead, you know, like someone is dead if you see the skull. But they explain that it means dead like I'm dying of laughter. Talk about that one. That is absolutely true. And that I have seen my own son use this.

He's 12 and he will use the skull emoji to indicate that something is absolutely hysterically funny. whereas my generation, I'm in my 40s, would use the laughter with tears of joy emoji instead, and I would never use the skull emoji for that. So yes, generational differences are absolutely the thing. There is more to that conversation about emoji etiquette with Monica Reardon of Chatham University, including the several different interpretations of the peach emoji

at here and now.org. I definitely learned something about the thumb up emoji from that. And I'm going to go over to our work slack right now and send producer Ashley Locke, a 100 with two lines under it. That's it for the show today. If you want to give here and now any time a thumbs up or a 100 with two lines under it emoji, you can do that by giving us a good rating in whatever podcast platform you're listening to us on right now. It takes just a second and it really helps. So thank you. Here and now anytime comes from NPR and WVR Boston. Today's Stories were produced by Sam Rifleson and Hufsa Qureshi.

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