WASHINGTON — Miami’s Temple Israel on Thursday canceled a program featuring Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz after a high-profile Republican donor quit the congregation to protest the top Democratic congresswoman’s speech.
Stanley Tate, a well-known philanthropist and prominent Republican who started Florida’s prepaid college tuition program, resigned from the temple after he learned Wasserman Schultz would be talking about Israel after services on Friday night, and that he wouldn’t get an opportunity for rebuttal.
The temple’s president, Ben Kuehne, a Miami attorney, said the event was canceled because of security concerns. He said they “certainly embrace the congresswoman’s willingness to participate in one of our programs,” but decided it was “unwise to proceed with the program tomorrow.”
