Jewish Republicans chide Trump on Holocaust statement
Jewish Republicans on Sunday castigated President Donald Trump over his decision to not mention Jews in his statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day — with one prominent group calling on the White House to “immediately rectify this painful omission.”
On Friday, the president released a statement saying: “It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust.”
Trump went on to “pledge to do everything in my power throughout my presidency, and my life, to ensure that the forces of evil never again defeat the powers of good.” Yet, he did not mention the approximately six million Jews that perished.
On Sunday, a pair of influential Jewish Republican groups – both with ties to GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson - pushed back.
The Republican Jewish Coalition, an organization that is heavily funded by Adelson, released a statement from a spokesman, Fred Brown. It stated: “As supporters of President Trump, we know that he holds in his heart the memory of the six million victims of the Holocaust, and is committed not just to their memory, but ensuring it never happens again.”
“The lack of a direct statement about the suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust was an unfortunate omission. History unambiguously shows the purpose of the Nazi’s final solution was the extermination of the Jews of Europe,” said the statement. “We hope, going forward, he conveys those feelings when speaking about the Holocaust.”
Also weighing in was Mort Klein, who is the national president of Zionist Organization of America, another group that Adelson has financed.
“Especially as a child of Holocaust survivors, I and ZOA are compelled to express our chagrin and deep pain at President Trump, in his Holocaust Remembrance Day Message, omitting any mention of anti-Semitism and the six million Jews who were targeted and murdered by the German Nazi regime and others,” he said.
Klein is close with Adelson, a Las Vegas casino mogul and outspoken backer of Israel who is among the Republican Party’s most generous givers. Adelson supported Trump’s 2016 campaign and was rewarded with dais seating at the inauguration.
The administration has defended its Holocaust statement, telling CNN over the weekend that “despite what the media reports, we are an incredibly inclusive group and we took into account all of those who suffered” in the Holocaust.
It pointed to an article which noted that non-Jewish people were also killed by the Nazis.
Appearing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said he did not regret the wording of the statement. He also noted that some members of Trump’s family — presumably alluding to son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, and daughter, Ivanka — are Jewish.
“I mean, everyone’s suffering in the Holocaust including obviously all of the Jewish people affected and the miserable genocide that occurred is something that we consider to be extraordinarily sad and something that can never be forgotten,” Priebus added.
Klein said his organization was “shocked” by Priebus’s decision to defend the statement – and called it “disgraceful.”
In interviews over the weekend, several other prominent Jewish Republicans said they were concerned by Trump’s Holocaust message.
Ari Fleischer, an RJC board member who was press secretary in the George W. Bush White House, said Trump officials missed an opportunity to clarify Trump’s comments during their appearances on Sunday morning news programs.
“I wish they fixed it on the shows this morning. Obviously they didn’t,” he said. “The omission was a mistake. I hope they learn from this and not repeat this omission in any future statements they make.”