Gene Simmons Gives Pentagon Briefing: ‘America Is The Promised Land For Everybody’

Gene Simmons stands in front of press reporters in the Pentagon on May 16, 2019. Image by Reuters
Gene Simmons for White House Communications Director?
Simmons, lead singer of the legendary rock band KISS, visited the White House on Thursday, USA Today reported.
In a video posted to Twitter by CBS reporter Katiana Krawchenko, the star can be seen walking down the driveway with his wife, Shannon Tweed-Simmons, escorted by security.
Simmons’ visit to the home of the president was hardly the main event of his day. He surprised reporters in the Pentagon pressroom with a public press briefing, something the Trump administration hasn’t provided in that space in nearly a year. Simmons gave thanks to the armed forces, and discussed his love of Israel and the United States. Simmons emigrated to the United States from Israel with his parents when he was eight years old, in 1957.
“My mother was a survivor of Nazi Germany,” the singer, born Chaim Witz, told reporters, tearfully. “My mother just passed at 93, but if Americans could see and hear my mother talk about America, they would understand.”
“Every time my mother saw the flag, she’d start crying,” he said. “As an eight-year-old boy, I didn’t understand why, but from my mother’s point of view, we were finally safe. I may have been born in the country that people throughout history have referred to as the Promised Land, but take my word for it. America is the Promised Land for everybody.”
Adrianna Chaviva Freedman is the Social Media Intern for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ac_freedman
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
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
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.