BY REBUKE FROM TRUMP
of his support among the alt-right movement, and joined Spencer in his assessment of the president’s rebuke as disingenuous.
“I know you feel like you’ve got to virtue signal,” Duke said to Trump in a webcast. “Please, for God’s sakes, don’t feel like you have to say those things. It’s not going to do any good.”
Civil rights groups also were deeply skeptical that Trump will continue to denounce a group that makes up part of his political base. Both Duke and Spencer had endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign, and several of the attendees of Saturday’s rally as well as a torch-lit march the night before were wearing red “Make America Great Again” trucker caps.
That skepticism was fueled when the president blasted the African-American CEO of Merck in a tweet early yesterday morning after he resigned from the president’s manufacturing advisory board over Trump’s initial response to the Charlottesville attack.
“Trump’s tweet attacks on Kenneth Frazier make it hard to accept his statements today as an authentic disavowal of racial violence,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank and Intel CEO Brian Krzanich also stepped down from the council later yesterday.
“I joined the American Manufacturing Council because I believed it was important for Under Armour to have an active seat at the table and represent our industry,” Plank said in a statement. “However, Under Armor engages in innovation and sports, not politics.”
On a day the White House struggled to pivot from a weekend dominated by criticism of Trump’s failure to denounce racism, the president drew further fire when, in a Fox News interview, he floated the idea of pardoning former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt for refusing a judge’s order to stop racial profiling in traffic stops.
“Make no mistake: This would be an official presidential endorsement of racism,” ACLU Deputy Legal Director Cecillia Wang said of an Arpaio pardon.