Trump, Kushner rabbi denounces Trump’s Charlottesville remarks
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's synagogue condemned President Trump's remarks Tuesday afternoon that "both sides" are to blame for the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia that stemmed from a white supremacist rally.
"While we always avoid politics, we are deeply troubled by the moral equivalency and equivocation President Trump has offered in his response to this act of violence," reads the Facebook post from the Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, Kushner and Trump's Modern Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan.
The message, which was posted on Wednesday, says that the president's "frightening message and fallout...have consumed" the synagogue's community.
"We are appalled by this resurgence of bigotry and antisemitism, and the renewed vigor of the neo-Nazis, KKK and alt-right," the post states.
Trump, who converted to Judaism prior to marrying Kushner, has yet to publically denounce her father's comments outside of two tweets she posted Sunday:
1:2 There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis.
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 13, 2017
2:2 We must all come together as Americans -- and be one country UNITED. #Charlottesville
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 13, 2017
The congregation's rabbi emeritus, Haskel Lookstein, declined to comment on whether he had discussed Mr. Trump's comments with his daughter or son-in-law in an interview with The Washington Post Wednesday evening.
"I respect their privacy very, very much," Lookstein said. "I don't want to intrude on it."
"My colleagues and I felt we had to make a statement that we felt was important for the congregation. And that's it," he added. "It was very important to respond to the needs of my community."
The Charlottesville violence left one 32-year-old woman dead and injured 19 other individuals after a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters at the rally.
Mr. Trump was criticized for his initial response to the events as he did not specifically call out the white supremacists responsible for disturbing the peace. His remarks that followed Tuesday, in which he placed equal blame for the violence on both hate groups at the rally as well as what Mr. Trump labeled the "alt-left" counter-protesters, shocked both political and religious leaders alike.
The Republican Jewish Coalition also spoke out against Mr. Trump's equivocation.
"We join with our political and religious brethren in calling upon President Trump to provide greater moral clarity in rejecting racism, bigotry, and antisemitism," the group said in a tweet.
Statement by RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman and RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks on behalf of the Republican Jewish Coalition pic.twitter.com/dbgLPxoyc8
— RJC (@RJC) August 16, 2017