Trump calls racism evil, slams KKK and White supremacists
washington — US President Donald Trump — under pressure to explicitly condemn a weekend rally by White supremacists in Virginia that ended in bloodshed — denounced racism as “evil” Monday, singling out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as “repugnant.”
“Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America,” Trump said in nationally televised remarks from the White House, where he travelled early Monday to meet with his top law enforcement aides.
“Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, White supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
Trump had taken heat from Democrats and Republicans alike for his response to Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville.
Earlier, on Sunday before the White House statement, US Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, who chairs the Republican Party’s Senate election effort, urged the president to condemn “White supremacists” and to use that term. He was one of several Republican senators who squarely criticised Trump on Twitter on Saturday.
“Calling out people for their acts of evil — let’s do it today — White nationalist, White supremacist,” Gardner said on CNN’s “State of the Union” programme on Sunday. “We will not stand for their hate.”
A woman was killed and 19 others injured when a suspected Nazi sympathiser plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters after a violent rally by neo- Nazis and White supremacists over the removal of a Confederate statue.
Another 15 people were injured in bloody street brawls between White nationalists and counter- demonstrators who fought each other with fists, rocks and pepper spray.
Two Virginia state police officers died in the crash of their helicopter after assisting in efforts to quell the unrest, which Mayor Mike Signer said was met by the presence of nearly 1,000 law enforcement officers.
Signer blamed Trump for helping foment an atmosphere conducive to violence, starting with rhetoric as a candidate for president in 2016.
“Look at the campaign he ran, Signer said on CNN’s State of the Nation.” “There are two words that need to be said over and over again — domestic terrorism and White supremacy. That is exactly what we saw on display this weekend.”
Memorials and vigils showing solidarity with Charlottesville’s victims were planned across the country on Sunday to “honour all those under attack by congregating against hate,” a loose coalition of civil society groups said in postings on social media. — AFP, Reuters