WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Monday night planned to use remarks at a Hanukkah reception at the White House to reject rising anti-Semitism in the United States.
During his remarks, Biden is expected to make the case that “in the face of emboldened anti-Semitism in the U.S. and around the world, silence is complicity – and we must forcefully say that all forms of hate, anti-Semitism, and violence can have no safe harbor in America,” a White House official said.
The Democratic president’s move comes as reports of anti-Semitism have increased nationwide.
The issue has drawn headlines in recent weeks after Republican former President Donald Trump hosted white supremacist Nick Fuentes and the musician formerly known as Kanye West at his private club in Florida.
Biden condemned anti-Semitism in a Twitter post early this month, saying: “I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure. And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting anti-Semitism wherever it hides.”
(Reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
