President Biden Issues Statement After Kanye’s Hitler Comments; Natalie Portman Says Antisemitism Is “Painful And Frightening”

Natalie Portman posted screengrabs of tweets from U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris condemning anti-Jewish sentiments and hate speech.

Biden seemingly wrote his tweet on Friday in response to the controversy surrounding Kanye West.

I just want to make a few things clear:

The Holocaust happened.

Hitler was a demonic figure.

And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides.

Silence is complicity.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 2, 2022

The rapper, who has been making antisemitic comments on social media and in interviews since early October, hit headlines on Thursday when he praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis during an appearance on Alex Jones’s Infowars show.

Portman has described the rise in antisemitism as “painful and frightening.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Natalie Portman (@natalieportman)

In an Instagram post on Sunday, the “Thor: Love and Thunder” actress sent “extra love” to her fellow Jews amid the rise in antisemitic comments on social media.

“Seeing the re-emergence of antisemitism makes my heart drop,” Natalie wrote in her post. “This hatred must be combatted with boundless love for each other.”

The actress continued, “Today, I send extra love to my fellow Jews. And I send love to all those standing with us against these violent words and actions. It’s been painful and frightening to listen to, and I’m extremely grateful to those who continue to speak up against antisemitism with us, and against all forms of racism.”

On her Instagram Stories, the Oscar-winning actress shared an article from The New York Times about the rise in hate speech on Twitter since Elon Musk’s takeover in October.

According to the report, antisemitic posts increased by 61 per cent in the two weeks after the tech billionaire’s acquisition, a claim he called “utterly false” on Twitter.