Jewish donor dumps Trump after community backlash

Republican developer Martin Selig ‘stunned’ by anti-Trump sentiment from fellow Jews

JTA

A prominent Jewish Republican donor is no longer backing Donald Trump, saying his support made him unpopular in Seattle’s Jewish community.

“Do you know what it’s like being a Jewish Republican in Seattle?” Martin Selig, a developer and a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition board, told the Seattle Times this week. “The repercussions of what you hear from people is stunning.”

Selig had appeared as a co-host on an invitation to a fundraiser Tuesday for the Republican presidential nominee, but said he was withdrawing and would not donate money to nor vote for Trump as result of community blow back.

Selig said he would write in a candidate.

His earlier endorsement of Trump was underwhelming: Selig said he was supporting the billionaire real estate magnate by default after Trump defeated an array of establishment GOP candidates.

Trump’s broadsides against immigrants and Muslims, as well as his equivocation on support for Israel, have made him unpopular with many Jewish Republicans.

Other Seattle Republicans named on the invitation have also disavowed Trump, according to the Times.