Local members of Congress react to Trump’s remarks
WASHINGTON — Western Pennsylvania Republicans are striking a different tone than Donald Trump in discussing the weekend of violence in Charlottesville, Va., but most are stopping short of directly-criticizing the president’s controversial response.
The president initially blamed “both sides” for the violence, and he was criticized for failing to call out neo-Nazis and white supremacists in particular. He later named those groups but backpedaled on Tuesday, when he also blamed counter-protesters for attacking participants in the white supremacist rally, some of whom he called “very fine people.”
Republican members of Congress from Western Pennsylvania don’t see two sides, but most also don’t seem to see a need to openly criticize the leader of their party.
U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, is the only one who directly responded to Post-Gazette questions about Mr. Trump’s rhetoric. For him, it fell short.
“The president’s latest remarks don’t acknowledge that the tragedy in Charlottesville was the direct result of racial hatred fueled by white supremacists and neo-fascists who showed up spoiling for a fight,” Mr. Murphy said Wednesday in a written response. “They employed unrestrained hateful rhetoric and street theatrics that ended in a terrorist action by one of their followers,” he said, referring to James Alex Fields.
Mr. Fields of Ohio is accused of driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing Heather D. Heyer and injuring19 others.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday said one side was “very bad” and the other side was “very violent.”
Mr. Murphy on Wednesday said there is no moral equivalence and that “we can’t overcome evil without naming it.”
Other Pennsylvania Republicans declined to directly address Mr. Trump’s comments.
U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-Sewickley, offered no fresh comment Wednesday on the president’s remarks, but he condemned the violence itself in a Facebook post on Monday.
“The hate-filled ideologies espoused by the KKK, neo-Nazis and other white supremacist groups belong on the ash heap of history,” he wrote.
His post raised the ire of some Facebook followers, including one who asked, “Will you condemn the racism coming from the White House as well?” and another who said, “If this is what you truly believe, then unhitch yourself from the white-supremacist-in-chief at the White House.”
Others asked why Mr. Rothfus didn’t also condemn Black Lives Matter, Antifa and LGBT groups that mounted the weekend counter-protest.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., issued a two-sentence statement Wednesday that appeared to refer to Mr. Trump’s “both sides” comment. “There is no moral equivalency between neo-Nazis, bigots, and white supremacists and those who oppose them. Our country has no room for corrupt ideology or violent acts,” the senator wrote.
The statement followed social media posts over the weekend in which Mr. Toomey said that the violence in Charlottesville was vile and that the racism spewed there by white nationalists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis had no place in society.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, one of the president’s strongest supporters in Congress, declined to comment on Mr. Trump’s response to the violence. Over the weekend he tweeted that he was praying for the victims, called the “bigotry and violence” disgraceful, and asked that “patriotic Americans join in eradicating such vile hatred.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, said many of his Republican colleagues were avoiding speaking about the president’s remarks because the remarks were indefensible.
“He said there are fine people there on both sides. I’m trying to find out who the fine people were on the side that wants a white America, no people of color, no Jews,” he said. “Who are the fine people in that crowd?”
He and other Pennsylvania Democrats say the president’s apparent sympathy for racist groups is not only offensive but it affects his ability to lead nationally and internationally.
Mr. Trump’s statements were “deeply offensive and should be repudiated by everyone in the United States Congress, no matter what party,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said. “I think it compromises his ability to lead domestically, but also internationally. The world is looking at this presidency and wondering how America can stand for the values that we’ve stood for for generations when you have a president engaging in the most egregious and, I think, offensive false equivalency.”
He said the right-wing groups gathered in Charlottesville had done more than preach hatred. They also created the context in which a woman died.
“There was only one group of people in Charlottesville who was engaged in activity that led to an act of domestic terrorism, and it was the group represented by the — whoever the hell they were: KKK, Nazi sympathizers, all the rest,” Mr. Casey said.
“This is an either/or situation. You either condemn it — completely, categorically and aggressively — and then take steps to prevent it from spreading ,or you just by your silence or your false equivalency allow it to grow,” he said. “There are only two sides here, and unfortunately so far, he’s chosen to sympathize with one side and excuse a lot of hateful words, hateful conduct and hateful activity.”
The president’s hateful rhetoric is only hurting himself, Mr. Doyle said.
“He’s losing his bully pulpit in terms of him being able to influence legislation. If he keeps this behavior up, I think he’s going to find [Congress is] going to be legislating without him, and he’s not going to have much impact.”
That’s at a time when lawmakers are preparing to tackle big issues such as tax reform, air traffic control and infrastructure programs.
“This is a president that is severely weakened by his own words. Nobody has done this to him. He’s done this to himself,” Mr. Doyle said. Mr. Trump has “given up his moral authority to speak for America. I don’t know how he gets that back.”