Trump blasts media over Charlottesville
In fiery speech to supporters in Phoenix, president defends his response to racist protests
PHOENIX— U.S. President Donald Trump blamed the media Tuesday night for the widespread condemnation of his response to a Virginia protest organized by white supremacists that led to the killing of a counterprotester.
Trump opened his political rally in Phoenix with a call for unity, saying, “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 Charlottesville and claiming the media had misrepresented him. He read from his three responses to the violence — getting more animated with each one.
Democrats and fellow Republicans had denounced Trump for placing blame for the Charlottesville violence on “both sides.”
Trump spoke after Vice-President Mike Pence and others called repeatedly for unity.
Housing Secretary Ben Carson and Alveda King, the niece of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., were among the openers. Franklin Graham, son of the evangelist Billy Graham, led the rally-goers in prayer, saying, “We’re divided racially, and we’re adrift morally.”
Outside the Phoenix convention centre, shouting matches and minor scuffles erupted between Trump supporters and protesters gathered near the site of his latest campaign rally. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton had asked Trump to delay his political event to allow for more time of national healing after Charlottesville.
Eager to capitalize on his hard-line stance on immigration, Trump teased a pardon for former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, asking the crowd what they thought of him. Loud cheers erupted. The former Maricopa County sheriff is awaiting sentencing after his conviction in federal court for disobeying court orders to stop his immigration patrols.
“So was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?” Trump asked. “I’ll make a prediction: I think he’s going to be just fine.”
Earlier, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump wouldn’t discuss or take action on a pardon “at any point today,” even though the president had told Fox News he was considering it.
Trump said at the rally that the only reason he wouldn’t make a move from the stage was to avoid controversy for the moment.
In the company of his most fervent fans, Trump often resurrects his freewheeling 2016 campaign style, pinging insults at perceived enemies such as the media and meandering from topic to topic without a clear theme.
Neither of Arizona’s two Republican senators appeared with Trump.
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, a conservative, has been a frequent target of Trump’s wrath.
The president tweeted last week: “Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and
“He is the first president I feel in my lifetime that speaks his mind and speaks from the heart.” RANDY HUTSON TRUMP SUPPORTER OUTSIDE RALLY
a non-factor in Senate. He’s toxic!” Flake has been on tour promoting his book that says the Republican party’s embrace of Trump has left conservatism withering.
In a modest but telling swipe at Ward and, by extension, at Trump, the Senate Leadership Fund, a political committee closely aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, is spending $10,000 (U.S.) on digital ads that say of her, “Not conservative, just crazy ideas.”
Arizona’s other senator, John McCain, is undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of brain cancer. Trump has been critical of McCain for voting against a Republican health-care bill.
Tuesday’s events put Trump in more comfortable political territory than in recent days.
He began his Arizona visit with a brief trip to the southern edge of the country. While touring a marine corps base in Yuma that is a hub of operations for the U.S. Border Patrol, Trump inspected a drone and other border equipment on display in a hangar.
Trump shook his head as he was shown a series of everyday objects, such as a fire extinguisher, that had been refashioned to secretly transport drugs across the border. Afterward, he spent about 20 minutes greeting service members in the gruelling 41 C heat, signing caps with his “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan and posing for selfies on the tarmac just steps from Air Force One.
Later, outside the convention centre, the scene was noisy but largely peaceful, as Phoenix police kept most members of the two opposing groups behind barricades on separate sides of the street. As a police helicopter hovered overhead, officers wearing riot gear and carrying rifles sauntered through the lane between the sides. Authorities said no one was arrested, though a few were treated for heat exhaustion.
“Toxic Trump,” read one protest sign held up to the president’s supporters streaming into the Phoenix Convention Center downtown. “Lock Him Up!” read another, a reference to earlier campaign chants by Trump and his backers about his election rival, Hillary Clinton.
Dillon Scott of Phoenix, who voted for Clinton, said he came out to express dissatisfaction with how long Trump took to denounce racism after the Charlottesville violence.
“No one should be allowed to get away with what he gets away with, especially in political office,” Scott said.
Meanwhile, a group of protesters chanted, “Wrong side of history! Wrong side of history!”
Trump backer Randy Hutson, a retired Phoenix police officer, began standing in line more than seven hours before the speech was to start. “He is the first president I feel in my lifetime that speaks his mind and speaks from the heart,” Hutson said. “He says what needs to be said.”
A number of opposition signs showed drawings or photos of Trump with a small, Hitler-style moustache. Three Trump supporters taunted Latino protesters with offensive comments about immigrants and held anti-Muslim and Black Lives Matter signs. John Brown, of an anti-Trump group calling itself the Redneck Revolt, wore military fatigues and had an AK-47 rifle strapped to his chest as he and a half-dozen others from the group stood about 30 feet behind the barricade. He said they were there to protect Trump opponents and stand up to fascism. “He’s offensive to me in every way,” Brown said.