POLITICAL FIGURES/RACISM: “Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney took to Facebook Friday [8-18-17] morning to again criticize how President Donald Trump handled the Charlottesville, Virginia attacks this past weekend.
‘Whether he intended to or not, what he communicated caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep and the vast heart of America to mourn,’ Romney wrote. ‘His apologists strain to explain that he didn’t mean what we heard. But what we heard is now the reality, and unless it is addressed by the president as such, with unprecedented candor and strength, there may commence an unraveling of our national fabric.’
He also urged Trump to ‘take remedial action in the extreme’ after outlining that the potential consequences of his rhetoric are also ‘severe in the extreme.’ This includes, Romney said, admitting that he was wrong and reviling racists for what happened in Charlottesville…
Romney listed people of multiple minority identities and said that they, too, are ‘as much a part of America as whites and Protestants’ and that Trump’s actions thus far leave Americans wondering what will happen next. He said this is not only a domestic matter but also one that could impact America’s standing with enemies and allies.”
-Diamond Naga Siu, “Romney: Trump needs to apologize and blame racists for Charlottesville violence,” Politico, Aug. 18, 2017 10:26am