The rabbi who oversaw Ivanka Trump's conversion to Judaism, along with his successors Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz and Rabbi Elie Weinstock, on Wednesday told their congregation in New York they were "deeply troubled" by President Donald Trump's comments about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"We are appalled by this resurgence of bigotry and antisemitism, and the renewed vigor of the neo-Nazis, KKK, and alt-right," the letter read, according to a report published in New York magazine. "While we avoid politics, we are deeply troubled by the moral equivalency and equivocation President Trump has offered in his response to this act of violence."
Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner, a senior White House adviser, attended Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun regularly before moving to Washington, D.C., earlier this year. Ivanka Trump's conversion in 2010 was overseen by Rabbi Emeritus Haskel Lookstein.
The president doubled down Tuesday on his comments blaming "many sides" for the violence in Charlottesville, which led to three deaths and at least 34 injuries.
"You had a group on one side that was bad," Trump said. "You had a group on the other side that was also very violent. Nobody wants to say that. I'll say it right now."
Ivanka Trump denounced white supremacy Sunday on Twitter.