White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks said, "Despite what the media reports, we are an incredibly inclusive group and we took into account all of those who suffered."
In the statement, Hicks also included a link to a story by the Huffington Post, which stated that not only six million Jews were murdered, but also five million others including priests, gypsies, physically and mentally disabled people and others.
When CNN asked Hicks if the White House would like to comment on President Trump not mentioning Jewish victims in order not to harm other groups persecuted by the Nazis, Hicks said, "It was our honor to issue a statement on this important day."
CNN noted that Trump's remarks on the victims of the Holocaust as "innocent people" stands in marked contrast to past presidents such as Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
The head of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, questioned why the statement left out the six million Jewish victims and called the statement "puzzling and troubling."
CNN asked Greenblatt for a response concerning the White House statement and he responded that the UN established International Holocaust Remembrance Day not only because of Holocaust denial, but also because of the refusal of many countries to recognize Hitler's attempt to exterminate the Jewish people and instead to focus on the general suffering the Holocaust caused.
"The attempt to downplay the extent of the goal of exterminating the Jewish people during the Holocaust is a common idea among nationalist movements in Russia and eastern Europe," said Greenblatt.