Donald Trump had a chance to look presidential in the wake of Saturday’s horrific events in Charlottesville, Virginia–and blew it eight ways to Sunday when he initially condemned “many sides” for what happened. Never mind that a white supremacist, not a Black Lives Matter activist or an antifa, got the bright idea to drive a car through a crowd–resulting in one person dying and 19 others injured.
It initially appeared that the strongest evidence Trump had blown it came when some of the most conservative members of the Senate joined in calling the car attack for what it was–an act of domestic terrorism. Take Ted Cruz, for instance.
I urge the Department of Justice to immediately investigate and prosecute today's grotesque act of domestic terrorism.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 13, 2017
Cory Gardner was even more blunt.
Mr. President – we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism. https://t.co/PaPNiPPAoW
— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) August 12, 2017
As was Marco Rubio.
Very important for the nation to hear @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 12, 2017
But believe it or not, there’s even stronger evidence that Trump blew it. The white supremacists, one of the “sides” Trump supposedly condemned, actually stood up and applauded his initial response.
The Daily Stormer, for instance, couldn’t have been more pleased with Trump’s initial remarks. The Stormer noticed that Trump not only said “nothing specific against us,” but also took his “many sides” comment as a sign that “the antifa are haters.” It was particularly pleased when Trump walked off the podium when a reporter asked him to disavow his white nationalist/white supremacist supporters.
Along similar lines, a poster at Stormfront suggested that by merely condemning the “‘violence’ and ‘hate'” on display in Charlottesville, Trump’s statement could easily be “construed as (being) aimed at the ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter.”
When you try to condemn both sides and one of those sides is actually applauding your remarks, it’s a sign that you missed the mark–bigly. Trump apparently tried to staunch the growing criticism on Sunday morning, when he had his media team issue the following statement.
“The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred. Of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together.”
Nowhere did he condemn the car attack that resulted in the death of paralegal and activist Heather Heyer. Driving a car through a crowd is the very definition of domestic terrorism. Apparently Trump has yet to understand this. Moreover, it may have fallen far short of the unequivocal denunciation of white supremacy demanded by several members of his own party, such as Cruz, Gardner, Rubio, and Ana Navarro.
According to The New York Times, a number of Trump’s own advisers wanted him to use stronger language in denouncing the white nationalists. While Trump didn’t get the memo, apparently First Daughter Ivanka Trump did.
1:2 There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis.
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 13, 2017
2:2 We must all come together as Americans — and be one country UNITED. #Charlottesville
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 13, 2017
Um, Ivanka? Mind passing that message on to your dad? Perhaps then he can stop embarrassing himself.
(featured image courtesy Gage Skidmore, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license)
