Tree of Life Synagogue Rabbi Jeffrey Meyers said Thursday on CNN’s “New Day” that he was “pleasantly surprised” by President Donald Trump’s warmth and compassion during his visit to Pittsburgh.

“I was privileged to have a private 15 or 20 minutes with the (Trump) family. The president was very warm, very consoling,” Meyers said.

“He put his hand on my shoulder and the first question he asked me was, ‘Rabbi, tell me how are you doing?’ And I must say throughout the time we spent together I was pleasantly surprised by a warm and personal side to the president that I don’t think America has ever seen,” he added.

Meyers said he told the president about his ordeal and said they discussed the issue of hate speech, along with other personal matters.

Pres. Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner visit the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh to pay their respects to the victims of Saturday’s shooting. https://t.co/1YqxDFYPAf pic.twitter.com/GKlv1FWQwx — ABC News (@ABC) October 31, 2018

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“I told my personal story of my experience, which they found quite shocking and upsetting,” he said.

“We talked. I shared the same message that I shared with you throughout the course of the week — that hate speech has no place in our society, that hate speech leads to actions of hate. Hate speech led to the death of seven of my congregants and 11 total in my building.

“And we shared other personal conversation that I’d respectfully like to keep personal.”

Pittsburgh Rabbi Jeffrey Meyers has received backlash from the left for saying President Trump is welcome to visit #TreeOfLife synagogue. He says he’s received so many hateful emails that he’s lost count. https://t.co/ukxMm3LHMR pic.twitter.com/xlaQvsBroe — The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) October 30, 2018

Meyers said it was important to walk the president through the memorial so he could know who was taken and fully understand how devastating the shooting was on the community.

“I have been through this a few times. I don’t know how people would react to see that horror. It’s seared in my brain and it’s a sight I’ll never forget the rest of my life,” Meyers said.

“After we lit the 11 memorial candles, I chanted … the memorial prayer in Hebrew and in English. The president then asked me if I would escort he and the first lady to the makeshift memorial … and I gave him a bit of a background story about each person because it was a human being who lived, who was a good, decent person and the president needed to know something about these people because they, too, were his citizens.”

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