Trump’s protest response selective
UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump is often quick to respond to terrorising acts of violence.
As news broke of a terrorist attack in Paris in November 2015, Trump immediately tweeted that he was praying for ‘‘the victims and hostages.’’ Very soon after a shooting at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub in June 2016, Trump tweeted that he was ‘‘right on radical Islamic terrorism.’’
But he kept quiet yesterday as a protest led by white nationalists, who arrived with torches and chants in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday turned violent. The cable networks that he usually watches showed footage of increasingly violent clashes between the white nationalists and the counter-protesters who showed up to challenge them. The Unite the Right rally was to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee from a public park.
He kept quiet as David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, declared that Charlottesville is a ‘‘turning point’’ for a movement that aims to ‘‘fulfil the promises of Donald Trump.’’ The president kept quiet as Virginia Governor Terry Mcauliffe, Democrat, declared a state of emergency - and as Trump’s own wife responded, writing in a tweet that ‘‘no good comes from violence.’’
Cable news commentary, Twitter and the inboxes of White House spokesmen quickly filled with this question: Where is the president?
Then, at 1.19pm in New Jersey, Trump took a break from his working vacation at his private golf club to tweet: ‘‘We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Let’s come together as one!’’
Trump has long tiptoed around the issue of white supremacy and has yet to provide a full-throttled rebuke of those who invoke his name. He had to be repeatedly pushed to denounce Duke after the former KKK leader endorsed him and praised him.
About two hours after the president’s tweet, Trump announced: ‘‘We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.’’ He then emphasised: ‘‘On many sides.’’ When asked what the president meant by ‘‘on many sides,’’ a White House spokesperson responded: ‘‘The President was condemning hatred, bigotry and violence from all sources and all sides. There was violence between protesters and counter-protesters today.’’
Trump never used the words ‘‘white supremacy’’ or ‘‘white nationalism.’’ He didn’t mention the vehicle that had driven into counter-protesters in Charlottesville - a tactic that has been repeatedly used by Islamic State terrorists. He scolded both sides and treated their offences as being equal. He was vague enough that his statement could be interpreted in a number of ways.
‘‘Did Trump just denounce antifa?’’ tweeted Richard Spencer, who helped organise the protest in Charlottesville, using a term short for ‘‘anti-fascist’’ to describe violent liberal protesters.
But many other Americans wanted their president to be