This year, President Donald Trump's statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day condemned anti-Semitism and the systematic persecution and murder of 6 million Jewish people.
Those specific references to history are notable because neither was mentioned at all last year. That omission angered Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League, though the White House defended its statement at the time.
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"The President went out of his way to recognize the Holocaust and the suffering that went through it and the people that were affected by it and the loss of life," then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. "Whether they were Jews, they're Gypsies, gays, disability — I mean, priests."
Members of the Trump administration argued the statement didn't have to specifically name the groups of people affected by the tragedy, but after heavy criticism and accusations of distorting history, it seems the White House took note.
This year's statement not only mentioned the Jewish people affected, it also paid tribute to the "millions of Slavs, Roma, gays, people with disabilities, priests and religious leaders, and others who courageously opposed [the Nazis'] brutal regime."
