Trump blames media for hate
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has blamed the media for the widespread fury aimed at him over his initial response to the deadly Charlottesville protest.
Speaking yesterday in Phoenix, Arizona, at his first political rally since the divisive tragedy in Virginia, Mr Trump at first called for unity and appeared to placate his critics.
He told the city’s crowded convention centre: “What happened in Charlottesville strikes at the core of America, and tonight this entire arena stands united in forceful condemnation of the thugs that perpetrated hatred and violence.”
But he quickly trained his ire on the media, shouting that he “openly called for healing, unity and love” in the immediate aftermath of the racist protest in which a woman died.
But, he added, the “very dishonest media” did not report those comments.
“They don’t report the facts. Just like they don’t want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry and violence, and strongly condemned the neoNazis, the white supremacists and the KKK,” he said.
“The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself.” Democrats and Republicans had denounced Mr Trump for initially placing blame for the Charlottesville violence on “both sides”. Outside the convention centre, shouting matches and minor scuffles erupted between thousands of Trump supporters and anti-racism protesters. But police mostly kept the two sides apart, behind barricades and lines of riot squad officers on opposite sides of the street. Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton had asked Mr Trump to delay his rally to allow for more time for national healing after Charlottesville. But a civic leader in another city in the state went even further. Tucson deputy mayor Regina Romero said Arizonans “refuse to idly stand by while Trump destroys everything America stands for.
“We need to raise our voices against Trump’s racism and assaults on civil rights, our environment and working families”.
Mr Trump (left) began his daylong visit to the southwestern desert state near the border with Mexico, touring a Marine Corps base that is also the hub of operations for the US Border Patrol.
He spent about 20 minutes greeting service members in the gruelling 35C heat, signing caps with his “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan and posing for photos.
A day earlier, he up-ended an election campaign vow by announcing in a televised address a plan to send more US troops to Afghanistan.