Trump defends initial response to #Charlottesville violence
YemenExtra
US President Donald Trump has defended his initial response to last week’s bloody rally in Charlottesville, suggesting that the counter-protesters were just as violent as the white supremacists.
On Saturday, thousands of white supremacists, KKK members and neo-Nazis descended on Charlottesville for a “Unite the Right” rally. The march soon turned violent. A 20-year-old man plowed a vehicle into a group of anti-hate demonstrators protesting against the white supremacist rally, killing a woman and injuring 20 others.
Trump first blamed the violence “on many sides”, but after pressure against him piled up, he declared Monday that “racism is evil,” singling out white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan for the violent rally.
However, on Tuesday, the president returned to his highly criticized initial response.
“I’ve condemned neo-Nazis, I’ve condemned many different groups, but not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me, not all of those people were white supremacists,” Trump told reporters at a press conference at Trump Tower.
“You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. Nobody wants to say it, but I will say it right now.”
The president’s remarks raised questions about his own personal views of racial tensions in the US, provoking bitter criticism from members of his own party.
‘There is only one side’
“We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, (R-Wis.).
“Blaming ‘both sides’ for #Charlottesville?! No. Back to relativism when dealing with KKK, Nazi sympathizers, white supremacists? Just no.” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (R-Fla.), tweeted.
Also, Rep. Charlie Dent, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said Trump “must stop the moral equivalency! AGAIN.”
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi also slammed Trump’s response, saying, “There is only one side to be on when a white supremacist mob brutalizes and murders in America.”
‘Trump on the wrong side’
In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also said President Trump is on the wrong side of the issue.
“Great and good American presidents seek to unite not divide,” the New York Democrat wrote. “Donald Trump’s remarks clearly show he is not one of them.”
Schumer adds, “By saying he is not taking sides, Donald Trump clearly is. When David Duke and white supremacists cheer, you’re doing it very, very wrong.”