Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Rabbi Marvin Hier Bombarded With Anti-Semitic Messages After Trump Inauguration Blessing

Rabbi Marvin Hier was bombarded with anti-Semitic messages after delivering an invocation at President Trump’s inauguration.

After the prayer on Friday afternoon, the 77-year-old leader of the Simon Wiesenthal Center received hundreds of racist and anti-Semitic messages, the Times of Israel reported.

Some called to “light the Jew on fire,” or claimed “the Jew put a spell on us,” while others made references to Hitler and Nazi gas chambers. Many of the users are associated with white supremacist or anti-Semitic groups.

Hier was among six clerics who participate in the inauguration. Before the ceremony, Hier said he believed that “all of us should pray for [Trump’s] great success, because his great success means our great success.”

His appearance was controversial with liberal Jews, some of whom believed his presence signalled an endorsement of Trump’s ties to so-called ‘alt-right’ racists and anti-Semites, along with his disturbing comments about women.

But he insisted all Americans should stand behind the president and cheer for a successful term.

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.