Carson to Attend RJC Presidential Forum
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is expected to attend the Republican Jewish Coalition presidential forum on December 3rd in DC, RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said on Tuesday.
Last month, CNN reported that Carson was not planning to attend the upcoming presidential forum, missing an opportunity for a top-tier candidate to win over some of the biggest donors in the Republican Party money race. His spokesman Doug Watts confirmed that the candidate has “no plans at this time” to attend the event because he had “other things to do.”
But during a panel on the 2016 race hosted by Jewish Insider at the Jewish Federation of North America’s General Assembly in DC Tuesday, Brooks announced that Carson has agreed to attend the forum.
“I’m thrilled to announce that we will have every Republican presidential candidate in attendance,” Brooks said. “Carson, originally, had a scheduling conflict, and I’m pleased to say that he’s rearranged his schedule to attend.”
“I think it’s a testament to the work that we do in the Jewish community, and why having an organization like the RJC is so valuable. And that is demonstrated by the fact that every Republican presidential candidate is flying in the Washington to address a national gathering of our Jewish leaders and supporters from across the country,” he added.
Brooks boasted about the fact that other than sanctioned debates, no other organization has managed to have every single one of the candidates attend. “This is going be an opportunity for these candidates to address the issues that our community cares about, to engage in the dialogue and to take questions and answers,” he said. “I think it’s a profoundly important event.”