WASHINGTON (JTA) — Anthony Scaramucci, the financier who briefly helmed President Donald Trump’s communications department, pledged $25,000 to the Simon Wiesenthal Center after an account in his name posted a survey asking people how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
“On behalf of the @ScaramucciPost we will be making a $25,000 donation to The Simon Wiesenthal Center. Hopefully I spelled that right,” Scaramucci said Tuesday afternoon on his personal Twitter account, ending with a grinning emoji.
Earlier Tuesday, the Scaramucci Post account had posted a tweet asking “How many Jews were killed in the Holocaust?” and offering multiple choices: “Less than one million, between 1-2 million, between 2-3 million, more than 5 million.” The historical figure, 6 million, was not offered.
The tweet was up for an hour before being removed by Lance Laifer, who apologized for it. Scaramucci later said Laifer was his partner.
In another tweet on his personal account, Scaramucci apologized and said the offending tweet’s intent was to raise awareness about ignorance of the Holocaust in the wake of news that a company was marketing Halloween costumes meant to represent Holocaust diarist Anne Frank. The company withdrew the costume after complaints.
“Six million Jews and millions of others lost their lives,” Scaramucci said in his apology. “If we are ever to move forward we must acknowledge this event, vow to learn from it, teach it to the next generations and promise to never forget.”
Scaramucci served for 10 days in July as the White House communications director. He forced out some of Trump’s top advisers before being forced out himself.
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