Jewish GOP Lawmaker Walks Back Support For Trump On Charlottesville — A Bit

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By Ari Feldman August 18, 2017

Congressman Lee Zeldin is the latest in a growing contingent of Jewish Republican political figures walking back their support for Trump. On CNN Friday morning Zeldin issued a more full-throated disagreement with the equivalence Trump drew on Tuesday between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. Zeldin’s first statement on the matter backed Trump’s take.

“I don’t know of anyone who would be there, who would associate themselves with that particular protest, who are good people,” Zeldin said.

Zeldin, who represents New York’s 1st District covering eastern Long Island, had originally defended Trump on Facebook.

“Antifa bused in criminals with bats and pepper spray for the purpose of committing acts of violence targeting anyone who was part of the protest against Charlottesville bringing down the statue of Robert E. Lee, whether associated with the KKK or Nazism or neither,” Zeldin wrote on Tuesday.

Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at feldman@forward.com. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

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