Trump removes former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff from Holocaust council

Former Vice President Kamala Harris‘s husband, Doug Emhoff, has been removed from the United States Memorial Holocaust Council.

The council oversees the United States‘ official memorial to the Holocaust, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C..

Emhoff was the first spouse of a U.S. president or vice president to be Jewish.

News outlets are reporting that other appointees to the board made by former President Joe Biden have also been removed.

“Let me be clear: Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized. To turn one of the worst atrocities of 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,” Emhoff shared on X yesterday.

Trump’s “divisive political decision” will not shake Emhoff’s commitment to remembrance of the Holocaust or to combat hate and antisemitism in the United States.

“I will continue to speak out, to educate and to fight hate in all its forms — because silence is never an option.”

Dana Bash reported on CNN that removing an appointee is a president’s prerogitive, however, it is “highly unusual” and also “political retribution.”

“And they’re doing this to make a point,” Bash said of Trump removing America‘s “highest ranking Jewish person ever in the history of America” from an appointment.

Also reportedly removed from the board were former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, former Ambassador Susan Rice, former labor secretary Tom Perez and Jill Biden‘s senior adviser, Anthony Bernal, USA Today reported. Some of the members removed from the board are well known for their work fighting antisemitism. Rice launched the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism in May 2023.

“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to USA Today.

Museum spokesperson Andy Hollinger said that, to his knowledge, no appointee has been removed from the council since it was established in 1980.