Trump under fire on protest
A DEFIANT Donald Trump drew the ire of senior Republicans, critics and business leaders yesterday as he squarely blamed “both sides” for the weekend’s deadly racial violence in Charlottesville.
Mr Trump’s combative statements came a day after he attempted to deflect mounting criticism by labelling the white nationalist protest organisers and neo-Nazi attendees as “criminals and thugs”.
However, yesterday, at an impromptu press conference in the lobby of his Manhattan home and corporate headquarters, Mr Trump stepped back from the appeasing tone he struck a day earlier.
“There is blame on both sides and I have no doubt about it,” Mr Trump said of the violent clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters in the Southern college town.
“You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent and nobody wants to say that but I’ll say it right now.
“What about the alt left that came charging at, as you say, at the alt right? Do they have any guilt? What about the fact that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs?
“You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent.”
Mr Trump’s combative comments came as the number of industry leaders who quit the White House manufacturing council in protest over his opaque response to the spreading unrest grew to six.
His statements will prolong the controversy and were greeted with dismay by senior Republicans with some of Mr Trump’s most loyal supporters speaking out.
“We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive,” the Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said soon afterwards.
“This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.”
The remarks were, however, welcomed by the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
“Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth,” David Duke tweeted.
Some Democrats said they could no longer consider Mr Trump their president.
“As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment,” Hawaii senator Brian Schatz said.
“This is not my president.”