The rabbi injured in Saturday's California synagogue shooting took to MSNBC to praise the president for his support.
In an interview with MSNBC's Kasie Hunt Monday, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein thanked President Donald Trump. He described how Trump had been "so gracious and generous" in a phone call between the two.
"He was so gracious and generous with his words; exceedingly comforting to me, to my community, and he spoke to me like a friend," Goldstein said. "I'm talking to the president of the United States. He was just exceedingly kind and sensitive, and we spoke for close to 15 minutes."
Goldstein suffered two gunshot wounds Saturday, during sabbath and Passover services. He is the chief rabbi of Chabad of Poway, a synagogue located in San Diego, Calif.
The gunman killed a congregant and wounded several others in the Poway synagogue.
According to ABC 10News, Goldstein was injured while trying to speak with the shooter and calm congregants. "One of the victims, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, suffered hand injuries," it reported. "A witness told 10News that despite his injuries, the rabbi was trying to calm worshippers and the gunman."
After a congregant returned fire and the shooter fled, Goldstein delivered remarks to the congregation while he bled.
Per press reports, Goldstein had asked that the congregant, a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent, carry a firearm in synagogue.
"Many times I said, 'Jonathan, you work for the border patrol. Please arm yourself when you are here; we never know when we will need it,'" Goldstein recounted.
BuzzFeed News, Goldstein described his efforts to calm his community:
"I grabbed a prayer shawl, wrapped my arm, my fingers with it, that was just hanging, dangling, I'm bleeding all over the place. My congregation was gathered outside here, and I said I gotta do something. I got up on a chair, right there, and I looked at the congregation," he said.
"'We are a Jewish nation that will stand tall! We will not let anyone or anything take us down! Terrorism like this will not take us down!'" he said he told his congregants.