The head of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect on Tuesday slammed President Donald Trump for speaking out against anti-Semitism as “too little” and “too late.”
Trump denounced bigotry and condemned incidents of vandalism and threats targeting Jewish centers across the country during his first tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Steven Goldstein, the executive director of the Anne Frank Center, accused the president of only making the comments amid mounting pressure to address anti-Semitism. “The President’s sudden acknowledgement is a Band-Aid on the cancer of anti-Semitism that has infected his own Administration,” Goldstein said in a statement. “Make no mistake: The anti-Semitism coming out of this Administration is the worst we have ever seen from any Administration.”
Goldstein said the White House refused to mention Jews in its Holocaust Remembrance Day statement and noted Trump’s silence when Jewish centers first received bomb threats.
“When President Trump responds to anti-Semitism proactively and in real time, and without pleas and pressure, that’s when we’ll be able to say this President has turned a corner,” he said. “This is not that moment.”
- Meet TIME’s Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
- After Visiting Both Ends of the Earth, I Realized How Much Trouble We’re In
- Google Is Making It Easier to Remove Personal Info From Search
- Oil Companies Posted Huge Profits. Here’s Where The Cash Will Go (Hint: Not Climate)
- Column: We Asked Hundreds of Americans About Abortion. Their Feelings Were Complicated
- A Short History of the Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the Marcos Family
- Long-Lasting Birth Control Is Already Hard to Get. Advocates Worry It May Only Get Worse
- Who Should Be on the 2022 TIME100? Vote Now