- The White House hosted an antisemitism roundtable Wednesday with Jewish leaders and organizations.
- The roundtable discussion was hosted by Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff joined the White House's condemnation of the recent rise in antisemitic attacks, calling it an "epidemic of hate," at a roundtable discussion he hosted on Wednesday.
"Let me be clear: Words matter. People are no longer saying the quiet parts out loud. They are screaming them," Emhoff said.
The roundtable comes as rapper and 2024 presidential candidate Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, faces widespread criticism for making a slew of antisemitic remarks. Most recently, Ye met with former President Donald Trump and white supremacist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago, praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis on Alex Jones' radio show, and was suspended from Twitter last week after posting an image of a swastika.
In April the Anti-Defamation League released an audit revealing that antisemitic incidents reached an "all-time high" in 2021, citing a 34% increase year over year. This was the highest number of reported incidents in the United States since the civil rights group began documenting antisemitic events in 1976.
"When it comes to antisemitic activity in America, you cannot point to any single ideology or belief system, and in many cases, we simply don't know the motivation," ADL CEO and National Director Jonathon A. Greenblatt said in the report. "But we do know that Jews are experiencing more antisemitic incidents than we have in this country in at least 40 years, and that's a deeply troubling indicator of larger societal fissures."
President Joe Biden condemned antisemitism last week.
"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. Silence is complicity," Biden tweeted Thursday after Ye's radio show appearance.
—President Biden (@POTUS) December 2, 2022
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in press briefing Wednesday that hate, bigotry, antisemtism, and Holocaust denial are "disgusting" and "have no place in America." She proceeded to list the president's most recent actions when it comes to combating antisemitism: establishing the first Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemtism through the Department of State, the 2017 op-ed Biden wrote for The Atlantic about the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as the plan of action the White House released in September at The United We Stand Summit to prevent hate-motivated violence.
"I think that shows his commitment to this issue," Jean-Pierre said of the president's efforts.
Emhoff, who is Jewish, was joined by White House domestic policy advisor Susan Rice, special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is a senior advisor to the president for public engagement, and several other White House officials focused on national security and those tasked with liaising with religious communities.
A total of 13 Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, Hillel, the United Synagogue of Jewish Conservatism, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, and the Religious Action Center were also present.
The second gentleman noted during the roundtable that antisemitism is not a partisan issue.
"We cannot normalize this. We all have an obligation to condemn these vile acts. We must not stay silent," Emhoff said. "There is no 'either or.' There are no two sides. Everyone must be against this."
Emhoff said he'll work with Jewish leaders to continue combatting antisemitism in America.
"I'm proud to live openly as a Jew," Emhoff said during his remarks. "I am not afraid. I refuse to be afraid."