Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Republican Jewish Coalition Chairman: Our Members Are ‘Thrilled’ With Trump

(JTA) — The chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition said its members are “thrilled” about the performance of President Donald Trump, especially with his approach to the Middle East.

“I think they’re feeling thrilled,” said former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman in an interview with McClatchy at the weekend’s annual RJC leadership conference in Las Vegas. “If you look at the change of what has happened with Israel, in terms of moving the capital to Jerusalem, the tough approach to Iran, holding the U.N. finally accountable … I think there’s a great deal of enthusiasm in the center-right, pro-Israel community about President Trump.”

The McClatchy reporter noted that in March 2016, Coleman wrote an op-ed titled “I will never vote for Donald Trump” in which he called the then-presidential candidate “A bigot. A misogynist. A fraud. A bully.”

Reminded about the op-ed, Coleman replied, “There are things I agree with the president on, things I disagree with. When it comes to Middle East policy, when it comes to what he’s doing in Iran, absolutely I’m thrilled he’s doing it, I’m thrilled he’s here.”

The annual gathering took place at the Venetian/Palazzo Hotel, owned by one of the RJC’s and Republican Party’s main benefactors, Sheldon Adelson, who was in Israel for a friend’s funeral and did not attend.

While others at the event were similarly enthusiastic about Trump’s Middle East policies, McClatchy noted mixed feelings among the RJC membership.

“For center-right Jews such as myself, that’s been the problem, is that on certain things he’s been overall positive — on the U.S.-Israel relationship, no question he’s better than Obama,” said Noam Neusner, who served as a speechwriter for President George W. Bush. “But on so many aspects of how he’s handled the presidency, how he’s conducted himself, perhaps certain issues of leadership, fitness — it’s been a challenge.”

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.