Biden Condemns Antisemitism After Swastika Found at State Department

President Joe Biden spoke out against antisemitism after officials said that a swastika had been found carved into the wall of a State Department elevator.

“Let me be clear: Antisemitism has no place in the State Department, in my administration, or anywhere in the world. It’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor and stand up to bigotry wherever we find it,” Biden tweeted late on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, a State Department spokeswoman told reporters the swastika had been discovered on Monday and that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had addressed the incident with department staff.

The swastika, a symbol of Nazi hate, has been removed and the incident is under investigation, Blinken said in a statement on Twitter.

“As this painfully reminds us, antisemitism isn’t a relic of the past. We must be relentless in standing up and rejecting antisemitism,” he said, likening antisemitism to other forms of hate including racism.

“None of these ideologies should have a home in our workplace or our nation.”

The State Department is working on the nomination of a special envoy to combat antisemitism, spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters.