Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a matched gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
Fast Forward

Mike Pompeo: It’s ‘Possible’ God Sent Trump, Like Queen Esther, To Protect The Jews

It wasn’t a Purim joke, though it may have sounded like one.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a Christian television network that it’s “possible” that God sent President Trump to save the Jews — just like he sent Queen Esther, from the Purim story.

“Could it be that President Trump right now has been sort of raised for such a time as this, just like Queen Esther, to help save the Jewish people from the Iranian menace?” asked Chris Mitchell, a reporter with the Christian Broadcasting Network.

“As a Christian, I certainly believe that’s possible,” Pompeo responded.

Thursday was Purim, the Jewish holiday that celebrates Queen Esther’s rescue of the Jews of Persia.

“Nah, we’re good. Thanks anyway,” tweeted the writer Molly Jong-Fast.

An evangelical Christian and a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Pompeo gave the interview while in Jerusalem, where he met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Israel, Pompeo said the U.S. planned to heighten pressure on Iran. Israeli media portrayed the visit as a political gift to Netanyahu, who is facing a difficult reelection campaign.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis

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. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.

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 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.

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.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.