President Donald Trump is calling recent threats against Jewish community centres “horrible and painful”.
Mr Trump made the remarks on Tuesday after touring the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
He said the museum was a “meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all forms”.
The threats against JCCs (Jewish Community Centres) are a “very sad reminder” of what still needs to be done, Mr Trump said.
The White House has posted his full speech to YouTube – his remarks about fighting bigotry start around 3:15 minutes in.
His comments are a contrast to last month when, in a statement released in his name to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, he failed to use the word “Jew” or “Jewish”.
Mr Trump also came under fire at his bizarre and rambling press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when a Jewish reporter asked him a question – he cut him off, insulted the reporter, and told him to sit down.
On Monday 11 Jewish community centres across the country, including in the Houston, Chicago and Milwaukee areas, reported receiving hoax bomb threats.
The BBC reports that last week, 27 Jewish community centres in at least 17 US states received such hoax threats.
No bombs were found at any locations, and normal services resumed following building evacuations.
Police in the state of Missouri have meanwhile opened an investigation after more than 170 headstones were damaged at a Jewish cemetery in St Louis, Missouri, on Monday evening.
Read the full artice by The New Daily and AAP at The New Daily.