Trump Aide Blasts Obama Hanukkah Speech — Says Shabbat Better

Obama addressed the nation on Hanukkah. Image by Getty Images
What Team Trump don’t know about the Jews could apparently fill a scroll and then some.
Last week, Donald Trump left Republican members of the Tribe flabbergasted by saying he doesn’t need their money. He also praised Jews as top-notch “negotiators.”
Now, comes this: A top aide to the Republican frontrunner criticized President Barack for choosing Sunday, the first night of the Jewish Festival of Lights for his address on terrorism. A better time, he said, would have been … wait for it … wait for it … Friday night.
“Disrespectful. Should have addressed the nation on Friday or Saturday evening. Not the first night of #Hanukkah,” tweeted Trump campaign senior adviser Dan Scavino. Really.
Disrespectful. Should have addressed the nation on Friday or Saturday evening. Not the first night of #Hanukkah. https://t.co/bxIlPLzgIe
— Daniel Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) December 7, 2015
The Donald also took to Twitter Sunday night — to live tweet Obama’s vow to defeat the Islamic state.
“Wish Obama would say ISIS, like almost everyone else, rather than ISIL,” the Republican presidential frontrunner said in one of his many posts.
And this at the speech’s end: “Is that all there is? We need a new President – FAST!”
Wish Obama would say ISIS, like almost everyone else, rather than ISIL.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015
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
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Protesters clash in Crown Heights as Ben-Gvir visits Chabad headquarters
-
Yiddish ווידעאָ: היסטאָריקער שמואל קאַסאָוו דערציילט מעשׂיות פֿון זײַן משפּחה־געשיכטעVIDEO: Historian Samuel Kassow shares stories about his family history
דער ווידעאָ איז טשיקאַווע סײַ פֿאַרן אינהאַלט סײַ פֿאַר קאַסאָווס נאַטירלעכן ליטוויש־ייִדיש
-
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?
-
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.