White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said he was under pressure to leave his job after President Trump said “many sides” were responsible for this month’s violence in Charlottesville, Va.
“I have come under enormous pressure both to resign and to remain in my current position,” Cohn told the Financial Times in an interview published Friday. “As a patriotic American, I am reluctant to leave my post. … But I also feel compelled to voice my distress over the events of the last two weeks. … Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK.”
But Cohn, who is Jewish, said he wouldn’t let Nazis shouting racist chants drive him from his job.
“As a Jewish American, I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting ‘Jews will not replace us’ to cause this Jew to leave his job,” he said. “I feel deep empathy for all who have been targeted by these hate groups. We must all unite against them.”
Cohn also said the Trump administration needs to do more to condemn the white nationalist groups who participated in the rally in Charlottesville, which left one woman dead after a suspected Nazi sympathizer plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters.
“This administration can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our community,” Cohn said.
Republicans and Democrats criticized Trump in the wake of the events in Charlottesville for failing to quickly denounce the white supremacists, KKK, and neo-Nazis who rallied in the Virginia city.
Trump initially said “many sides” were to blame for the violence, and said there were “very, very fine people” protesting on both sides.
