Trump pledges to fight anti-Semitism despite allegations that his rise helped unleash it

President Donald Trump issued a forceful condemnation of anti-Semitism on Tuesday during a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

"As president of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people," Trump said at the event, which took place in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. "This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism."

Trump's comments come after Jewish groups accused Trump of not speaking out forcefully enough against the wave of anti-Semitic incidents that cropped up in the wake of Trump's electoral upset. 

In February, when asked by a Jewish reporter to address the rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S., Trump went on the defensive, accusing the reporter of asking an "insulting question."

That incident led Anti-Defamation League National President Jonathan Greenblatt to demand that Trump condemn the incidents, which included a spate of bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers across the country.

"We look to our political leaders at all levels to speak out against such threats directed against Jewish institutions, to make it clear that such actions are unacceptable and to pledge that they will work with law enforcement officials to ensure that those responsible will be apprehended and punished to the full extent of the law," Greenblatt said in a statement at the time.

Trump tried to clean the statement up a few days later, calling the rise of anti-Semitic incidents "horrible" and "painful" in his first real condemnation of anti-Semitism since his election.