WASHINGTON (JTA)—In his proclamation marking Jewish American Heritage Month, President Joe Biden cited the precedents set by prominent Jews in politics this year and condemned the nation’s spike in anti-Semitism in recent years.
Biden recognized Douglas Emhoff and Chuck Schumer, saying this year Americans saw “two historic firsts… the Vice President take the oath of office alongside her Jewish spouse, and a Jewish American became the first Majority Leader of the United States Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish American elected official in our Nation’s history.”
Schumer, the Jewish Democrat from New York, became Senate majority leader in January when Democrats retook the Senate.
“Alongside this narrative of achievement and opportunity, there is also a history—far older than the Nation itself—of racism, bigotry, and other forms of injustice,” Biden said. “This includes the scourge of anti-Semitism. In recent years, Jewish Americans have increasingly been the target of white nationalism and the anti-Semitic violence it fuels.”
Biden’s decision to run for president was fueled in part by his perception that then-President Donald Trump was equivocating in condemning white supremacist violence and anti-Semitism. He said in his address to a joint session of Congress that white supremacists posed the greatest terrorist threat to Americans.
– Ron Kampeas