Donald Trump Speaks at Holocaust Memorial: ‘Evil Can Only Thrive in Darkness’

President Donald Trump spoke at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, participating in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s National Commemoration.

The president vocally condemned deniers of the Holocaust, vowing to confront anti-Semitism around the world.

“Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil. And we’ll never be silent — we just won’t — we will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again,” Trump said. “Denying the Holocaust is only one of many forms of dangerous anti-Semitism that continues all around the world.”

The ceremony was attended by Vice President Mike Pence, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn. Ivanka Trump was attending a summit with world leaders in Germany. Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, also spoke at the event.

Trump specifically acknowledged survivors of the Holocaust, pointing to their perseverance and their committment to telling the stories of the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

“Evil is always seeking to wage war against the innocent and to destroy all that is good and beautiful about our common humanity,” Trump said. “But evil can only thrive in darkness. And what you have brought us today is so much more powerful than evil. You have brought us hope.”

He recognized the death of Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and a Nobel prize-winning author who died in 2016.

“His absence leaves an empty space in our hearts, but his spirit fills this room,” Trump said. “It is the kind of gentle spirit of an angel who lived through hell, and whose courage still lights the path from darkness.”