What a Night! RJC's USA 250 Gala in NYC
What a night! On Sunday, May 31, proud Jewish Republicans packed Chelsea Piers for the RJC/JPC USA 250 Gala — a sold-out evening celebrating America's 250th year and filled with the unmistakable energy of a community that had just spent the afternoon marching down Fifth Avenue in the Israel Day Parade.
Red "Trump" kippot dotted the room. The mood was triumphant and focused on the future. Just weeks after the RJC's efforts helped to retire Rep. Thomas Massie in his Kentucky primary, RJC CEO Matt Brooks took the stage and named the moment for what it was:
"Let me say clearly tonight, [defeating Thomas Massie] was a fight worth having and a victory worth celebrating. When someone repeatedly undermines support for Israel, trafficks in isolationism at a moment of global danger, and refuses to stand with the Jewish community when it matters most, there have to be consequences. Being anti-Israel in today's Republican Party is not — unlike in the Democratic Party — a path to success."
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) drew sustained applause for thanking the RJC for "leading the fight, not just to elect Republicans and defeat radical, woke, antisemitic Democrats — but to hold the Republican Party to account as well," naming Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tucker Carlson, and Candace Owens.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana — fresh off becoming the first Knesset speaker in more than 60 years to march in the Israel Day parade, a direct answer to Mayor Zohran Mamdani's boycott of the festivities — reminded the room that "America's greatest leaders understood that evil ignored becomes evil empowered. It must be confronted head-on."
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), Nassau County Executive and New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, former Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl, Newsmax Media CEO Chris Ruddy, and TV personality Emily Austin each took their turn at the podium.
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The evening closed with a panel featuring U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon, moderated by RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman — with Ambassador Waltz noting that the U.S. has already forced "the U.N. to take its first budget cut in its history."
By the time the lights came up at Chelsea Piers, the message from the stage and the message from the room were the same: With the Iranian threat front and center, antisemitism still rising, and the midterms ahead, the RJC enters America's 250th year stronger, sharper, and more united than ever — and deeply grateful for President Donald J. Trump's leadership and moral clarity.
To every member, donor, sponsor, speaker, and friend who made Sunday night possible: thank you. The fights ahead are worth having.
Am Yisrael Chai!