U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Wednesday joined the many Republicans, including the Republican Jewish Coalition, criticizing President Donald Trump’s response to the Charlottesville protests.

“I think the reaction wasn’t fine,” Friedman told reporters during a ceremony celebrating the arrival of El Al’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Tel Aviv.

But Friedman – who served as one of Trump’s advisors on Israel and Jewish-related matters during the presidential campaign — maintained that the President  “was treated very unfairly in the media. People should give him a chance, and I think he will really do a great job for America.  These incidents don’t reflect who he is, what the U.S. administration is.” 

השגריר שטראמפ מינה לישראל דיוויד פרידמן אומר ל @NeriaKraus ב”הכל כלול” שתגובת הנשיא לאירועים בשרלוטסוויל לא הייתה בסדר. @sivanhakolkalul pic.twitter.com/4IPH5HPxHO

— נדב איל Nadav Eyal (@NadavEyalDesk) August 23, 2017

Last night, during a campaign-style rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona, Trump defended his several responses to the Charlottesville protests, blaming the media for misrepresenting what he said by repeating the statements, but he omitted the “many sides” and “both sides” remarks.