TRUMP CALLS FOR NATIONAL UNITY AS NEO-NAZIS RALLY AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Race war fears haunt Washington as white supremacists and anti-fascists gather in capital for new confrontation
It marked a low point of Donald Trump’s first year in office, perhaps even of his presidency, and a moment that few of his allies were able to defend.
Met with images of violence when a woman died as white supremacists clashed with those protesting against them, Mr Trump shied away from condemning the far right protesters as they marched through Charlottesville, Virginia.
“I think there is blame on both sides,” he said in the lobby of Trump Tower last August.
One year on his stance on race is back in the spotlight. He and his daughter sought to soothe tensions as Washington braced for a white rally yesterday to mark that bloody anniversary.
“The riots in Charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division. We must come together as a nation,” he tweeted as both sides began to assemble in Washington. “I condemn all types of racism and acts of violence. Peace to ALL Americans!”
Too little, too late, was the consensus of his critics, who again pointed out that he had failed to differentiate between the sides. But his daughter, Ivanka, went further.
“There is no place for white supremacy, racism and neo-Nazism in our great country,” she wrote, as she called for unity.
They sent their messages hours before the “Unite the Right” rally was due to gather in Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House, yesterday evening. Several protests against the right-wing rally had also been permitted to assemble nearby.
The location, could not be more symbolic – even if Mr Trump himself was at his New Jersey golf club yesterday.
Despite, or perhaps because of, following Barack Obama – who was meant to create a post-racial America – into the White House, Mr Trump is a president with a divisive record on race. He was propelled to power in part by white working-class voters, and analysts say he returns to that core when confronted with political peril.
Jeanne Zaino, professor of political science at Iona College, said: “He has calculated that any condemnation may turn his base away, so he is walking this line where he condemns racism on both sides – as if there were two sides to this.
“Is he racist? I don’t know. But he does seem to use race to divide and to ramp up his base.”
During the past week Mr Trump has again flirted with racial rhetoric, condemning African-American football stars who refuse to stand for the national anthem, and questioning the intelligence of NBA star LeBron James.
In a new memoir, Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former Apprentice contestant and one of the few African-Americans to work in the Trump White House, claimed the property mogul had used the N-word repeatedly while filming his TV reality series.
Organisers expect up to 400 people to take part in the Charlottesville anniversary rally. That number is expected to be dwarfed by protesters against the “Unite the Right” rally.
Authorities have promised an enormous security presence to avoid a repeat of the brawls last year in Charlottesville after neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen and other hate groups marched through the city.
Heather Heyer, 32, a local woman, was killed when a car careered into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters.
Mark Warner, a Democratic senator for Virginia, said: “These purveyors of hate were emboldened to take their message public by a president who has refused to unequivocally condemn them.”
Ms Newman, the reality-TV star turned White House aide, put it more bluntly.
“If he wants to start a race war, he’s succeeding.”