Food

Trumps Skip White House Seder — Ivanka Posts Passover Message

Ivanka Trump posted this image and message on her Instagram and Twitter feeds Monday night. Image by Instagram/Ivanka Trump

By Liza Schoenfein April 11, 2017

Having posted Sunday that President Donald Trump would be hosting a Seder at the White House Monday evening for the first night of Passover, I was somehow not surprised to read that he was, in fact, a no-show.

First daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who are Jewish, were not in attendance either. At about 8:45 last night, Ivanka Trump posted the family photo above on Instagram and Twitter, with the comment, “During #Passover, we are called upon to reflect on the significance of the exodus from Egypt and to celebrate the great freedoms we enjoy today! #ChagPesach”

In a pointed response, someone posted the comment: “While you are celebrating a mas [sic] exodus of refugees, your Dad and Co are not allowing them into our land…”

Along with White House staffers, one Trump cabinet member participated: secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, who is a holdover from the Obama administration.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told The Times of Israel that a kosher meal was provided at the Seder, which was held in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, not far from the West Wing.

Liza Schoenfein is food editor of the Forward. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @LifeDeathDinner

Liza Schoenfein is a former food editor of the Forward and author of the blog Life, Death & Dinner. Follow her on Instagram @LifeDeathDinner.

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