The Republican Jewish Coalition challenged President Trump to “provide greater moral clarity” in condemning racism and anti-Semitism in the aftermath of his response to the the violent rally in Charlottesville, Va., this past weekend.
“The Nazis, the KKK, and white supremacists are dangerous anti-Semites,” said the coalition’s national chairman, Norm Coleman, and executive director, Matt Brooks, in a statement Wednesday. “There are no good Nazis and no good members of the Klan. Thankfully, in modern America, the KKK and Nazis are small fringe groups that have never been welcome in the GOP. We join with our political and religious brethren in calling upon President Trump to provide greater moral clarity in rejecting racism, bigotry and antisemitism.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition is funded by Sheldon Adelson, a GOP business magnate and large Trump donor.
The coalition’s statement comes after Trump’s comments Tuesday in which he resorted to blaming “both sides’ for the Charlottesville rally organized by white nationalist groups.
Trump told reporters at Trump Tower that there were “fine people” amongst the people protesting with white supremacist groups. This statement echoed his first one Saturday, but diverged from his more pointed condemnation Monday when he said white supremacists and neo-Nazis are “repugnant.”
Republicans and Democrats roundly criticized Trump’s latest comments, saying he was emboldening white supremacists by equating them with other groups.
