Biden nominates David Cohen, ex-Jewish fed vice chair, as US envoy to Canada

A Comcast executive, Cohen hosted Biden’s first presidential fundraiser of the 2020 campaign

By Gabe Friedman 23 July 2021, 2:47 am Edit

In this May 8, 2014, file photo David Cohen, Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation testifies during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial, and Antitrust Law oversight hearing on the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Joe Biden is nominating Cohen to serve as his ambassador to Canada, according to the White House. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

JTA– David Cohen, a Comcast executive and former vice chairman of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, is President Joe Biden’s pick to be US ambassador to Canada, the White House has announced.

In addition to being a lobbyist for the communications giant, Cohen is a longtime Democratic fundraiser who was chief of staff to Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell in the 1990s. He also served as head of diversity and inclusion efforts at Comcast.

Cohen grew up in Highland Park, a New Jersey town with a high percentage of Jewish residents.

“Federation involvement is in my DNA,” he told the Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia in 2013. “In my family, it would be unthinkable not to be involved in Federation and the Jewish community.”

Cohen has had close ties to Biden and hosted his first presidential fundraiser of the 2020 campaign. The White House announcement on the choice of Cohen was made Wednesday.

“His Senate confirmation can’t come soon enough for the Canada-US relationship,” Scotty Greenwood, president and CEO of the Canadian American Business Council, said in a statement.