President Donald Trump has dismissed many of former President Joe Biden’s nominees to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council - among them Doug Emhoff, the Jewish husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris and a leading figure in the Biden administration’s campaign against antisemitism.
Emhoff, who played a key role in shaping the White House’s approach to combatting hate, condemned the decision: “Let me be clear: Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicised.”
He added, “To turn one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue is dangerous - and it dishonours the memory of six million Jews murdered by Nazis that this museum was created to preserve.”
Also removed were Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff, and Susan Rice, who spearheaded the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism in 2023 during her tenure as domestic policy adviser. Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to former First Lady Jill Biden, confirmed he, too, had been dismissed.
Since taking office in January, Trump has moved to fire many Biden appointees across government - including ostensibly apolitical roles. Biden, too, while on a far smaller scale, dismissed some Trump carryover appointees after he entered the White House in 2021, including 18 appointees to U.S. military academy boards.
