President Trump drew criticism once again from across the political spectrum on Tuesday for placing blame for the violence during a deadly white nationalists rally in Charlottesville on “both sides.”
Members of Trump’s own party quickly condemned his statements, calling on him to stand up to the hate groups instead of encouraging them.
“Mr. President, you can’t allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame. They support idea which cost nation & world so much pain,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted. “The #WhiteSupremacy groups will see being assigned only 50% of blame as a win. We can not allow this old evil to be resurrected.”
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reprised the tough attitude he once reserved for Trump. Last year he called the future President a “con man.”
“No, not the same. One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes,” Romney tweeted.
House Speaker Paul Ryan also called for clarity.
“We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for,” he said. “There can be no moral ambiguity.”
Meanwhile, members of the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists and neo-Nazis, emboldened by Trump’s rise to power, praised his initial reaction on Saturday, which blamed “many sides” for the violence.
Two days later, Trump bowed to bipartisan pressure and belatedly called out their hate groups by name and referred to them as “repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
On Tuesday, Trump defended his original statement and said that the racist groups weren’t the only one responsible for the mayhem that left 32-year-old Heather Heyer dead and dozens of others injured.
“You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent,” Trump said during a press conference at Trump Tower.
His comments were applauded by the likes of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and other white power proponents.
“Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa,” Duke tweeted.
Alt-right leader Richard Spencer agreed.
“Trump’s statement was fair and down to earth. #Charlottesville could have been peaceful, if police did its job,” he wrote.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) referenced Duke as he called out Trump’s comments.
“Great and good American presidents seek to unite not divide. Donald Trump’s remarks clearly show he is not one of them,” he said. “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.”
Others on the left side of the political divide also issued strong rebukes.
“President Trump is a racist. Period. He’s gone out of his way to make that clear, so let’s not tip-toe around it. He’s a racist,” said Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.).
Liberal movie maker Michael Moore did not mince any words in his take on the President’s comments.
“OMG. What did we just watch? He blamed the anti-racism protesters. He likened George Washington to Robert E. Lee. Donald. Trump. F—. You,” he tweeted.
Laurence Tribe, a professor of constitutional law at Harvard University, also seemed beside himself following the press conference.
“I thought Trump couldn’t dig a deeper hole than he did on Saturday. I was wrong. Today he buried himself completely. A total moral disaster.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) strongly disavowed Trump’s statements — and his presidency.
“As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment. This is not my President.”
