"Let me be clear: Anti-Semitism has no place in the State Department, in my administration, or anywhere in the world," President Biden said.
President Biden came forward to publicly denounce anti-Semitism a day after a swastika was found etched into an elevator at the State Department building in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
"Anti-Semitism has no place in the State Department, in my Administration, or anywhere in the world," President Biden said on Twitter in reference to the vandalism. "It's up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor and stand up to bigotry wherever we find it."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday also condemned the incident announcing that the "hateful graffiti has been removed and this incident will be investigated," according to Axios, who was the first to report on the matter. "As this painfully reminds us, anti-Semitism isn't a relic of the past. We must be relentless in standing up and rejecting anti-Semitism."
Blinken, who was raised under the Jewish faith and is the stepson of a Holocaust survivor, made it clear that the State Department has no tolerance for xenophobia, racism, sexism, or homophobia.
He continued, "To our Jewish colleagues: please know how grateful we are for your service and how proud we are to be your colleagues. And that goes for our entire diverse, dedicated team in Washington and around the world. It's an honor to serve alongside you on behalf of the American people."
An internal investigation is underway after the swastika was discovered at the Harry S. Truman building, State Department sources told BuzzFeed News.
The Anti-Defamation League, the organization that responds to and monitors incidences of anti-Semitism in the country, found that harassment, assault, and vandalism in attacks against Jews are at a historic high.
Last year was the third-highest recorded number of incidents against Jews since the organization began documenting them with a total of 2,024 incidents.
