Will Jared and Ivanka Seize Their ‘Mordechai And Esther’ Moment To Rein In Trump?
Trump and the Jewish-son-in-law paradox. Image by Getty Images
By Larry Cohler-Esses August 16, 2017
Former Anti-Defamation League leader Abraham Foxman thinks now may be Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s “Mordechai and Esther moment.”
Amid the uproar over President Trump’s blaming “both sides” for violence in Charlottesville, Foxman urged the president’s daughter and son-in-law to act like the legendary queen of Persia and her uncle, who famously blocked King Ahasverus from killing the Jews.
“For (Trump) to have seen the torch parade and the epithets against his daughter, his grandchildren, his son-in-law, and stand up and say both sides are equal? Shame, shame, shame,” Foxman told Jewish Insider.
“They need to sit down with him, and say to him, face-to-face: ‘Do you understand what message you’re sending to your grandchildren?’” Foxman asked. “That it’s OK for people to march down and yell, ‘Get rid of the Jews, we don’t want the Jews.’”
“And you say this is nothing?” Foxman said.
Kushner and his wife reportedly advised Trump to moderate his initial comments blaming both sides. But the couple were on vacation in Vermont when Trump backtracked went back to his original stance on Tuesday.
Kushner was once seen as an influence in preventing Donald Trump from issuing inflammatory tweets, with observers noting that some of his most egregious missteps have come when his son-in-law was offline for Shabbat.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
