Evangelicals Say ‘Just Like God’ To Give Us Jared And Ivanka

Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon July 25, 2017

Jared Kushner received an assist from some unexpected friends amid the scandal over his connections to Russia – a bevy of evangelical Christian leaders.

“It’s just like God to use a young Jewish couple to help Christians in the United States, defend their rights, and secure their religious freedom for now, and for subsequent generations,” said David Jeremiah, a Southern Baptist pastor, who signed a letter praising Kushner.

“Clearly, this Russian story is nonsense and it must end, enough-is-enough,” added Paula White, a megachurch leader and prosperity gospel exponent who prayed at President Trump’s inauguration. Other prominent signers of the letter included Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. and evangelical press man Johnnie Moore.

Trump has attracted the support of many evangelical voters despite a seeming lack of familiarity with religion, with some even comparing him to King Cyrus, the Persian monarch who freed the Jews. Some of that allure is rubbing off on Kushner, who along with wife Ivanka Trump is a Modern Orthodox Jew.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @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.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO