‘I would redo the interview:’ Jacksonville Mayor meets with Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and her senior administrators met with the senior leadership of the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida to talk about statements Deegan made on a London radio show.

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During an interview with Times Radio, Deegan spoke out on the presidential race and former President Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policies.

Read: Jacksonville Mayor gets backlash from local leaders over immigration comments on London radio

Deegan said, “To put people in what would really amount to a concentration camp-type situation, to round them out of the country doesn’t seem to me to be a very American thing to do.”

Her statement caused controversy with several officials calling on Deegan to apologize.

Read: Jewish community responds to Mayor Deegan’s controversial remarks on deportation and concentration camps

Initially, Deegan doubled down on her comments and sent Action News Jax the following statement:

In a statement Wednesday to Action News Jax, Deegan doubled down on her comments saying:

“When you flat out call a group of human beings animals and say they are poisoning the blood of our country, then promise to round the up in detention camps, what would lead anyone to believe they’d be treated humanely? The inevitable human rights abuses that would come are un-American and go against our country’s values.”

Now, Deegan is apologizing.

Read: Deegan doubles down on controversial ‘concentration camp’ comment, Trump campaign responds

On Tuesday, Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida Board President Haley Trager and CEO Mariam Feist released the following news release:

In hopes of a better understanding and for clarification, the senior leadership of the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida met with Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and her senior administrators today to dialogue about trends we have seen from the Office of the Mayor.

Given the Mayor’s pledge to embrace unity, we are pleased that in our meeting she stated “I wish I had not used the word concentration camp”…”If I could, I would redo the interview”...”It was never my intention to hurt the Jewish community”…”I didn’t realize how hurtful it would be.”

The Mayor’s willingness to reflect on her words and actions that impacted Jewish citizens over the last 15 months is comforting and admirable. The Mayor has repeatedly demonstrated support for the Jewish community and has called out hatred and bigotry at every opportunity.

She condemned the antisemitic graffiti that defaced signs on the first night of Hanukkah, partnered to commemorate Jewish American Heritage Month, addressed the October 7th Marking One Year event, and met privately with Federation leadership to chart a path forward.

Given today’s productive conversation between Jewish leaders, the Mayor, and her senior administrators, we are optimistic Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan understands the nuance, values, and priorities central to Jewish Americans. We thank the Mayor for her time.

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