Jared and Ivanka behind Trump’s controversial Bible photo-op, new book claims

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By Jacob Kornbluh July 13, 2021

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump advised former President Donald Trump to hold up a Bible in a photo-op outside a church that was damaged by a fire during the nationwide racial justice protests last year, against the advice of his close aides and allies, a new book claims.

“Holding the Bible in the air like a trophy was politicizing the holy book and would be received like a slap in the face to many mainstream evangelicals,” Michael Bender, a Wall Street Journal reporter, writes in his book, titled ’Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost. “Jared and Ivanka were practicing Jews from New York who kept kosher and observed the Sabbath. They weren’t immersed in evangelical culture.”

Kushner also boasted about his relationship with U.S. evangelicals by praising a controversial pastor who is considered a heretic by some Christian leaders, Bender’s book claims.

“A Jew growing up in Manhattan, I never thought I would meet and be such great friends with so many evangelicals,” Kushner once told White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Kushner mentioned Paula White, a Florida televangelist who was brought into the Trump administration to help shore up support among evangelicals, calling her “incredible.”

“Whoa,” Meadows reportedly responded. “Never tell any mainstream evangelical that Paula White is your gold standard.”

Bender’s book made headlines last week when an excerpt contained a quote of Trump reportedly saying that, “Hitler did a lot of good things.”

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Jacob Kornbluh is the Forward’s senior political reporter. Follow him on Twitter @jacobkornbluh or email kornbluh@forward.com.

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