In a bid to reduce public criticism of President Donald Trump’s meek response to white nationalist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, White House issued statement on Sunday to unequivocally condemn white supremacist groups for igniting violence that led to one person’s death at a rally.
President Trump’s omission of direct reference to the white groups for their role in inciting violence that ended up in a car plowing into crowd of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring 19 people, has sparked criticism from all corners of the political spectrum.
Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, was unreserved for his sharp criticism of the violent acts by white groups. Just as important, he was equally critical of the president whose description of events “for what they are” mattered for the “nation to hear.”
In an earlier tweet, he said there was nothing patriotic about Nazis and Ku Klux Klan.
Republican Senator from Colorado, Cory Garnder, was also candid in his portrayal of what happened in Charlottesville. He wrote on Twitter: Mr. President – we must call evil but its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.
In Charlottesville, the scenes of the violent scuffle between rival groups and a car’s driving into the crowd left deep scars in public imagination. But in the leading up to the tragic showdown and the car terror, there were hundreds of white nationalists marching with torches on Friday night to protest the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee.
With them, Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members chanted xenophobic slogans, displaying their will to take the country back from “Jews and foreigners.”
On Saturday, when a group of counter-protesters gathered together, brawls broke out and the state police intervened to disperse clashing groups. The violence turned nasty when a car drove toward the counter-protesters and unleashed a deadly terror.
President Trump, in his initial reaction, condemned in the strongest terms “this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.”
The White House statement clarified the main object of his criticism.
“The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred. Of course that includes white supremacists, K.K.K. neo-Nazi and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together,” the statement read.