Donald Trump’s campaign trail appearance at popular Brooklyn kosher deli cancelled due to shocking reason
Donald Trump was scheduled to stop at the deli before heading to Washington, DC, to speak at a Combating Antisemitism event.
Donald Trump’s campaign trail appearance at a popular Brooklyn kosher deli had to be cancelled on Thursday, September 19, after the owner died aged 76. Gottlieb’s owner, Shalom Yoseph Gottelib, died of a heart attack.
The former president was expected to stop by the mom-and-pop restaurant before heading to Washington, DC, to speak at a Combating Antisemitism event. Shalom, who was hospitalised earlier this week with pneumonia, died on Thursday, according to friends and religious leaders.
‘He was a real old-time gentleman’
“Everybody’s in shock. He was a good person, and he was an icon because of the iconic restaurant he ran for a very long time,” said Rabbi Abe Friedman, a friend of Gottlieb, according to New York Post. “Going from welcoming Trump to a funeral is quite shocking.”
Shalom’s Hungarian-born father, Shlomo Zelka, had survived the Holocaust and later founded the deli in 1962. Shalom worked “every day” and often helped poor people, said Rabbi Moshe Indig, a Jewish community leader.
“Let’s say someone came and told him their mother was sick, had to go to the hospital. He’d say, ‘How many portions do you need? Take it,’” Indig said. “Every Friday before closing he’d take all the leftovers and pack them up and send them to families.”
“He was a real old-time gentleman,” Indig added. “This is a great loss for the community.”
Before falling ill, Gottlieb attended a granddaughter’s wedding last week. “He was a very good person, very charitable, always with a smile, always with a good word,” said Borough Park Jewish community leader Rabbi Bernard Frelich.
Shalom was generally apolitical. He was “surprised” when Trump’s team decided to visit his shop, Indig revealed.
“He was never involved in any politics, but somebody – I don’t know why, I don’t know who – picked this location for [Trump’s] visit,” Indig said.. “It was good PR, but they had nothing to do with politics.”