Trump Needles Sheldon Adelson for Being Slow To Open Wallet

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By Daniel J. Solomon January 19, 2017

President-elect Donald Trump took a break from Twitter insults and delivered some bite in real life Wednesday night, mocking Sheldon Adelson among others at a banquet dinner in honor Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

Tape from the event indicated the president-elect mocked Adelson for being too slow to open his wallet to support Trump’s campaign. The New York Times, which procured the audio, did not carry the exact remarks.

Adelson was slow in forking over cash to the Trump campaign, along with many Republican mega-donors hesitant to shell out for a candidate who appeared fated to lose. Eventually, he and his wife Miriam gave $5 million to a pro-Trump Super PAC.

Adelson wasn’t the only one in Trump’s crosshairs. He derided Texas Senator Ted Cruz as a “smart guy, he was a little late to the plate, but that’s O.K.” and laughed at the “Never Trump” movement, saying “they’re really right now on a respirator. They’re pretty much gone.”

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter at @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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