The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
The state’s other Democratic senator, Mark Warner, tweeted: “No words.”
Trump’s fellow Republicans also didn’t mince words.
“We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive,” Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan wrote on Twitter.
“This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.”
And the condemnations also spilled beyond the political realm.
NBA superstar LeBron James tweeted: “Hate has always existed in America. Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again!”
Hate has always existed in America. Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again! Statues has nothing to do with us now!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 15, 2017
After the contentious press conference, the head of the main US labor union, the AFL-CIO, joined several high-powered executives in stepping down from Trump’s manufacturing advisory panel.
“President Trump’s remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis,” union leader Richard Trumka said in a statement.
“We must resign on behalf of America’s working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups.”
Outside Trump Tower where the president spoke, hundreds of people protested to denounce racism. They were surrounded by police officers to prevent clashes with a handful of Trump supporters nearby.
Protesters chanted: “We are here to stay, we are here to fight!”
“I would not have come here if I had not seen him say that on TV 20 minutes ago,” said actor Jason David, 23.
– ‘Is it George Washington next week?’ –
When asked why he waited until Monday to explicitly condemn hate groups present in Charlottesville, Trump said he wanted to be careful not to make a “quick statement” on Saturday without all the facts.
“I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct,” Trump insisted.
Trump called Fields, who has been charged with second-degree murder, a “disgrace to himself, his family and this country.”
But he also said that while there were troublemakers at the rally, there were also many people there “to innocently protest and very legally protest” the removal of a “very important statue” of Confederate general Robert E Lee.
“I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?” he said angrily.
“Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson?”
The president also defended his controversial far-right chief strategist Steve Bannon, insisting that “he is not a racist,” but without ruling out his possible departure from the West Wing.
