David Jackson, and Heidi M. Przybyla

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Touring a new museum devoted to African-American history, President Trump said Tuesday he will do what he can to improve race relations and also denounced a series of recent threats and vandalism aimed at Jews.

“The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and are painful, and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil," Trump said after touring the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In an earlier interview on MSNBC, Trump said that "Anti-Semitism is horrible, and it's going stop and it has to stop,."

Trump had been criticized for passing up previous chances to denounce a spate of recent anti-Semitic incidents that range from desecration of a Jewish cemetery to Jewish community centers. Some of the critics noted that Trump's presidential campaign last year seemed to attract an unusually high number of anti-Semites and white nationalists.

His critics included 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton, who tweeted: "JCC threats, cemetery desecration & online attacks are so troubling & they need to be stopped. Everyone must speak out, starting w/ @POTUS."

Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, called Trump's comments "too little, too late," and "a pathetic asterisk of condescension" in the face of rising anti-Semitism.

"The White House repeatedly refused to mention Jews in its Holocaust remembrance (statement), and had the audacity to take offense when the world pointed out the ramifications of Holocaust denial," Goldstein said.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer disputed the center's assessment, saying Trump is "someone who seeks to unify this country." He said the president made "an unbelievably forceful comment" at the African-American museum denouncing anti-Semitism

As for race relations in general, Trump told MSNBC that they have improved and worsened over time, and that he would seek betterment in a nation that is very divided politically, particularly over the president.

"Today and every day of my presidency," Trump said in his public remarks, "I pledge to do everything I can to continue that promise of freedom for African-Americans and for every American. So important, nothing more important."

Critics are still mocking Trump for a Feb. 1 White House event marking African-American history month in which the president seemed to suggest that 19th Century writer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass was still alive.

"Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who has done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice,” Trump said.

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Trump cited Douglass and other civil rights icons like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, and Martin Luther King, Jr., in his remarks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which he described as "a beautiful tribute to so many American heroes."

Institutions like the museum can help bridge the racial divide, Trump said after a tour in which he praised a number of exhibits.

"This is about love," Trump told MSNBC. "This building is about love."

In his public remarks, Trump cited the crowds that have flocked to the African-American museum: "It's doing so well that everybody is talking about it."

Earlier Tuesday morning Clinton called directly on Trump to condemn a wave of antisemitism including bomb threats to Jewish community centers and more than 170 Jewish graves found toppled at a Missouri cemetery.

The Anti-Defamation League said there were additional bomb threats on Monday targeted at Jewish community centers in a number of states. It is the fourth series of such threats since the start of the year.

Last week Trump was asked twice on separate occasions about rising anti-Semitism, including by a Jewish reporter in a press conference. He responded by saying he is … “the least anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life.”

Last month Trump came under fire for the White House statement on International Holocaust Memorial Day that failed to mention the Jewish faith of the millions of “innocent people” who were killed.