The rabbi at the Tree of Life Synagogue–which was struck by a deadly mass shooting on Saturday–is apparently on the Trump train… after meeting with the President.
Rabbi Jeffrey Meyers went on CNN to say that he was “pleasantly surprised” by Trump’s warmth and compassion, considering Trump’s public persona.
“I was privileged to have a private 15 or 20 minutes with the [Trump] family. The president was very warm, very consoling,” Meyers said.
“He put his hand on my shoulder and the first question he asked me was, ‘Rabbi, tell me how are you doing?’ And I must say throughout the time we spent together I was pleasantly surprised by a warm and personal side to the president that I don’t think America has ever seen,” he added.
“We talked. I shared the same message that I shared with you throughout the course of the week — that hate speech has no place in our society, that hate speech leads to actions of hate. Hate speech led to the death of seven of my congregants and 11 total in my building,” he continued. “And we shared other personal conversation that I’d respectfully like to keep personal.”
The media, after spending much of last week blaming Trump for the shooting, had previously criticized Trump for visiting Pittsburgh at all–citing a handful of liberal Jewish leaders who publicly told him not to come.
But Meyers–the rabbi of the synagogue where the mass shooting took place–seems to have had a different experience.
