There’s no room for hate in the Republican Party

LETTERS LETTERS@USATODAY.COM At a memorial service for Heather Heyer, a

victim of the horrific violence in Charlottesville, Va., her mother delivered a powerful response to the hate groups who tried to silence her daughter: You just magnified her. Through the tragedy that has gripped our nation following a white supremacist rally in Virginia, we have seen our politicians and public figures rally together to do just that.

This is not a left or right issue. Americans on all ends of the political spectrum, including President Trump, have spoken out to denounce the un-American speech and actions of a group of racist and hateful individuals. Unfortunately, some in the news media have chosen to parse the president’s words condemning neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists, and pretend he asserted moral equivalence between these racists and those who spoke out against them.

The president, myself and all our party leaders have said that the hate-filled words and actions of the Charlottesville protesters do not have a home in the Republican Party or anywhere in our great country.

To make calls to censure the president’s response to Charlottesville is an abhorrent politicization of an issue that rises above the daily mudslinging of partisan politics. President Trump, his administration and all Republicans are committed to speaking out against and ending discrimination and hate in all its forms. Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman Republican National Committee

Washington, D.C.

For too long, we have trivialized President

Trump’s rhetoric by using trite pejoratives such as “unacceptable,” “disturbing ” or “troubling.” Terms so overused in American politics that they have become meaningless. Tragically, we failed to unify in condemning him for what he truly is: a danger to the very fabric of our nation.

Many in our government, though privately outraged, have sought publicity to appease Trump. A dangerous, nationalist leader followed by apologists is a formula we’ve seen before. It has long been evident that Trump intentionally stokes the flames of racism and xenophobia in a twisted appeal to the dark side of nationalism. One cannot credibly argue otherwise, though many continue to try. Trump’s most dangerous turn yet is defending white supremacist groups by placing them on the same moral platform as civil rights protesters. Trump once again failed to lead. Dennis G. Collard

Atlanta