Top White House economic advisor Gary Cohn says he seriously considered resigning after President Donald Trump's reaction to the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"I have come under enormous pressure both to resign and to remain in my current position," Cohn said during an interview with the Financial Times about economic policy.
"As a Jewish-American, I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting 'Jews will not replace us' to cause this Jew to leave his job. I feel deep empathy for all who have been targeted by these hate groups. We must all unite together against them," Cohn said.
The former president of Goldman Sachs has said that the administration "must do better" when condemning neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Initially following the protests the president blamed "both sides" for causing protests to become deadly. Trump also said there were some "very fine people" among the white supremacist protesters.
"Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK," Cohn said in the interview.
Oh man, you know this is going to get Trump's panties all in a bunch.
And this wasn't a leak either, Cohn just said right out loud in an interview.
He clearly knows that Trump will not respond well to this, but he may not care because according to the New York Times he has already drafted a resignation letter:
The sharp critique from Mr. Trump’s top economic adviser, Gary D. Cohn, came nearly two weeks after deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., in response to a rally led by white nationalist groups. Mr. Cohn, who is Jewish, seriously considered resigning and even drafted a letter of resignation, according to two people familiar with the draft.
By coming out publicly like this Cohn could be positioning himself to be fired by Trump so he can later say that he was willing to stay to make the administration better, and also further demonstrating Trump's inherent vindictiveness.
Source http://ift.tt/2xyXOVv
