Steve Bannon Met By Protests At Jewish Congressman’s Fundraiser

Image by Bend The Arc Jewish Action
Activists with Bend the Arc Jewish Action protested Congressman Lee Zeldin’s fundraiser last night, which featured an appearance by former Trump advisor and Breitbart executive Steve Bannon.
Protesters rallied outside the office building where the fundraiser took place, some bearing placards that called Zeldin, who is Jewish, a “Bannon puppet.”
“As chief strategist to President Trump, Bannon helped develop policies, such as the Muslim Ban, which target and marginalize millions of people in the U.S.,” Bend the Arc Jewish Action organizer Kalya Glick said in a statement. “It is deeply disturbing that Rep. Zeldin would ally himself with someone so clearly hostile to our community and our values.”
According to a report on the protest in Newsday, Rabbi Jan Urbach addressed the crowd, connecting the protest to the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. “As Jews around the world lit the first candle of Hanukkah, our ancient symbol of hope, truth and morality, to dispel the darkness of fear, intolerance and hated, that very same night, a bright light was lit in Alabama,” Urbach said. “Tonight, having failed to get Roy Moore elected in Alabama, Steve Bannon is here in New York to raise money for Lee Zeldin.”
Democrats are targeting Zeldin’s seat in the 2018 elections.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
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 comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag 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.