Trump hits out at ‘dishonest media’
RESPONSE TO FAR-RIGHT MARCH President blamed ‘many sides’ for violence that took the life of a protester.
President Donald Trump mounted an aggressive defence on Tuesday of his response to a deadly far-right march in Virginia, using a rally speech to condemn “dishonest” media coverage of his widely criticised remarks.
Trump faced bipartisan outrage after blaming “many sides” for violence at the rally in Charlottesville that took the life of an anti-fascist protester.
Re-reading his statements following the clashes at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, he railed at reporters for misrepresenting his remarks – but omitted the equivocation that had sparked the backlash in the first place.
“The very dishonest media ... and I mean truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media, they make up stories. They have no sources in many cases. They say a source says there is no such thing,” he said.
“But 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 neo-Nazis, the white supremacists and the KKK.”
Trump dedicated around halfan-hour of his 78-minute speech in Phoenix, Arizona, to attacking the “sick people” in the news media, before turning his fire on his own side.
Speculation had been building that Trump would use the rally to formally endorse a challenger to incumbent moderate Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake, in a shot across the bow of sceptical Republicans.
He mocked both Flake and fellow Arizona Republican senator John McCain, implying McCain had sabotaged Republican healthcare reforms, but elaborately avoided mentioning either by name.
Veering off script, Trump shied away from issuing a pardon for Joe Arpaio – a former sheriff in Arizona who was convicted of willfully violating a court order to stop targeting Hispanics in immigration roundups.
But he gave strong hints that he was preparing a future pardon, saying: “I think he’s going to be just fine, okay? I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had earlier told reporters there would be “no discussion” of Arpaio at the rally.
The speech came at the end of a trip to Arizona the White House hopes will re-energize core supporters cooling to Trump’s crisis-riddled presidency and build momentum for a border wall.
The president began his day in Yuma, touring a US Border Patrol operations base, where he chatted with border agents. He travelled to Phoenix for the raucous campaign-style rally in the evening, introduced to the crowd by Vice-President Mike Pence.
His visit to the Republican state aimed to tout the benefits of a border fence, turn up the heat on reluctant allies and demonstrate his determination to realise a central campaign pledge. – AFP