Gary Cohn Criticizes Trump On Charlottesville — But Won’t Resign
Gary Cohn Image by Getty Images
By Nathan Guttman August 25, 2017
Gary Cohn, Trump’s top economic adviser who stood next to the president when he delivered his controversial remarks on the Charlottesville, Virginia, events, is speaking out for the first time. In a Financial Times interview Thursday, Cohn made his displeasure with Trump’s response public.
“Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the K.K.K.,” Cohn said in the interview. “I believe this administration can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our communities.”
According to the report, Cohn came under pressure from his family to resign from the Trump administration following the president’s comments, but after considering it and raising his concerns with Trump, he decided to stay. “As a Jewish American,” Cohn said in the interview. “I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting ‘Jews will not replace us’ to cause this Jew to leave his job.”
Cohn is the first Trump administration Jewish official to speak out against the president’s response to the neo-Nazi protest. Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin defended Trump’s response and David Shulkin, Veteran Affairs secretary, came out forcefully against the neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups but did not address Trump’s response.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
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. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
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.
