President Trump at Holocaust event vows ‘We will confront anti-Semitism’
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump delivered his strongest denunciation of anti-Semitism yet onTuesday, calling Holocaust deniers “accomplice(s) to this horrible evil” and vowing to “confront anti-Semitism.”
In a keynote speech inside the ornate US Capitol rotunda at an annual Holocaust remembrance event organized by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Trump seemed to respond to concerns voiced by Jewish leaders in the early months of his administration that he was reluctant to tackle anti-Semitism head on.
“This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism,” Trump said. “We will stamp out prejudice, we will condemn hatred, we will bear witness and we will act. As president of the US, I will always stand with the Jewish people.”
This year’s memorial was the first since the famous writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel passed away and Trump paid tribute to him, saying the lessons of his life would guide his decisions to prevent atrocities like the Holocaust from occurring again on his watch.
“I believe in Elie’s famous plea that ‘for the dead and the living we must bear witness,’” he said. “That is why we are here today, to bear witness. To make sure that humanity never, ever forgets that the Nazis massacred six million Jews.”
The president also castigated Holocaust deniers, in terms more strident than he has in the past.
“Those who deny the Holocaust are accomplice to this horrible evil. We will never be silent in the face of evil again,” he said, as a statue of Abraham Lincoln towered over him.
Read More: Times of Israel
