Gary Cohn, Trump’s Adviser, Said to Have Drafted Resignation Letter After Charlottesville
Mr. Cohn added, “As a Jewish American, I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting ‘Jews will not replace us’ to cause this Jew to leave his job.”
Mr. Cohn’s decision to publicly distance himself from the president comes at an awkward time, as Mr. Trump prepares next week to
start a major national effort to sell a tax-cut plan, which Mr. Cohn has been toiling for months behind the scenes to craft.
Mr. Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides,” as Mr. Cohn stood nearby
in the lobby of Trump Tower where the president made his remarks to reporters.
In his first public remarks on the national dialogue about the violence, Mr. Cohn said in an interview on Thursday with the Financial Times,
that as a “patriotic American” he did not want to leave his job as the director of the national economic council.
“Starting next week the president’s agenda and calendar is going to revolve around
tax reform,” Mr. Cohn said in the interview with the Financial Times.
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.
On Thursday, Mr. Cohn spoke publicly for the first time about the issue in the Financial Times interview, which largely focused on tax reform.
“Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the K. K.K.,” Mr. Cohn said.