PHOTOS: Why Does Sheldon Adelson Have Such Great Seats at the Inauguration?
Image by Getty Images
By Josh Nathan-Kazis January 20, 2017
Jewish casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam Adelson, got to Donald Trump’s inauguration bright and early this morning to claim their seats, right at the center of the dais.
Their seats, right on the aisle, put them within arm’s reach of the country’s most powerful political dignitaries, and just a few rows behind Trump himself. Politicians, not donors, dominate this most prestigious part of the dais.
The Adelsons’ prominent seats are somewhat surprising, given their reticence to support Trump throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. Adelson made a massive last-minute cash infusion to the Trump campaign, after dithering for months.
Image by Getty Images
Trump hasn’t forgotten the slight: At a dinner just days ago, the president-elect “mocked Adelson.
Image by Getty Images
As Trump arrived onstage, Miriam Adelson could be seen over his shoulder, shooting a picture on her camera phone.
Cameras caught the Adelsons kibitzing with former House speaker Newt Gingrich, whose failed 2012 presidential campaign floated with a total of $20 million in donations.
Image by Getty Images
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at nathankazis@forward.com
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
