President Donald Trump has fired former second gentleman Doug Emhoff and several other Biden appointees from the council that oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, is Jewish and toured the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January 2023 alongside Holocaust survivors.
“Today, I was informed of my removal from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council,” Emhoff said in a statement posted to X. “Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized. To turn one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue is dangerous — and it dishonors the memory of six million Jews murdered by Nazis that this museum was created to preserve.”
Other appointees who were dismissed included: Ron Klain, former President Joe Biden’s first chief of staff; Tom Perez, former President Barack Obama’s former labor secretary and Biden’s senior adviser; Susan Rice, Biden’s top domestic policy adviser; and Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to former first lady Jill Biden.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the New York Times in a statement that “President Trump looks forward to appointing new individuals who will not only continue to honor the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust, but who are also steadfast supporters of the State of Israel.”
The email written to those terminated from their positions thanked them for their service and said they were “terminated, effective immediately.”
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“This is a sad day because our mission at the council has always been nonpartisan,” Perez told the outlet during a phone call.
The museum, which is located in Washington, D.C., made no mention of the firings in a statement. “At this time of high antisemitism and Holocaust distortion and denial, the museum is gratified that our visitation is robust and demand for Holocaust education is increasing,” the statement said. “We look forward to continuing to advance our vitally important mission as we work with the Trump administration.”