CRIME/RACISM/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump, in the wake of deadly weekend violence at a white-supremacy rally in Virginia, is facing pressure to break decisively with such nationalist groups that largely backed his campaign and presidency, or risk a fraying of his fragile governing coalition.
The rally erupted in violence in Charlottesville on Saturday [8-12-17], and a woman was killed when a driver allegedly mowed down a group that had gathered to counter messages from the white nationalists, some of whom were self-described Nazi sympathizers. Dozens were injured in the car attack; later, two state troopers monitoring the demonstrations were killed when their helicopter crashed.
The president initially said the altercations came from ‘many sides’ of the event, which leaders from both parties said seemed to improperly spread blame equally between the white nationalists and the counterprotesters.
Then on Sunday the White House issued a statement saying Mr. Trump ‘condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups.’…
White nationalists flocked to Mr. Trump early in his candidacy and even before then, when he became a central figure in falsely questioning whether former President Barack Obama was born in the U.S. During his presidency, such fringe groups have become increasingly vocal.
For example, Mr. Trump’s Saturday comments were cited on the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer as evidence of ‘no condemnation at all’ of such groups by the president.
That dynamic is causing friction between Mr. Trump and many leaders of the Republican Party whom Mr. Trump now needs to advance his agenda in Congress.”
-Peter Nicholas, “Trump Pressed to Disavow White-Nationalist Groups After Virginia Attack,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 13, 2017 07:53pm