The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Trump under fire over response to violence
Demands for US president to denounce white supremacists
Donald Trump has come under fire for not explicitly denouncing white supremacists in the aftermath of violent clashes in Virginia, with the president being urged to take a public stand against groups that espouse racism and hate.
Mr Trump, while on a working holiday at his New Jersey golf club, addressed the nation on Saturday after a car ploughed into a group of anti-racist counter-protesters in Charlottesville, where neo-Nazis and white nationalists had assembled for a march.
The president did not single out any group, instead blaming “many sides” for the violence. “Hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now,” he said.
“We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and... true affection for each other.”
He condemned “in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides”.
He added: “It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump. Not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time.”
Yesterday, a statement from the White House said: “The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups.
During his address on Saturday, Mr Trump did not answer questions from reporters about whether he rejects the support of white nationalists.
Many fellow Republicans have demanded Mr Trump personally denounces the white supremacists.
Senator Cory Gardner tweeted: “Mr President – we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.”
Ivanka Trump tweeted yesterday morning: “There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-Nazis.”