President Donald Trump finally condemned the recent rise in anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish community centers and synagogues on Tuesday -- but at least one prominent group thinks it's too little, too late.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect Executive Director Steven Goldstein hammered the president for taking so long to respond to pleas to condemn anti-Semitism -- and he said the president's remarks this week amounted to "a Band-Aid on the cancer of anti-Semitism."
"His statement today is a pathetic asterisk of condescension after weeks in which he and his staff have committed grotesque acts and omissions reflecting anti-Semitism, yet day after day have refused to apologize and correct the record," said Goldstein. "Make no mistake: The Antisemitism coming out of this Administration is the worst we have ever seen from any Administration."
Among other things, Goldstein noted Trump's refusal to specifically acknowledge Jewish suffering during the Holocaust, and his silence in the wake of increased anti-Semitic threats against Jewish institution across the United States since his election. Trump last week also told a Jewish reporter to "sit down" during a press conference after the reporter asked him to talk about the rise in anti-Semitism.
"When President Trump responds to anti-Semitic 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," Goldstein concluded. "This is not that moment.: