RACISM/STEVEN MNUCHIN: “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected calls for him to resign in protest of President Donald Trump’s response to violence at a white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend, and defended the president in a statement Saturday [8-19-17] evening.
Mr. Mnuchin condemned the ‘actions of those filled with hate and with the intent to harm others.’
‘While I find it hard to believe I should have to defend myself on this, or the president, I feel compelled to let you know that the president in no way, shape or form believes that neo-Nazi and other hate groups who endorse violence are equivalent to groups that demonstrate in peaceful and lawful ways,’ Mr. Mnuchin said.
About 300 of Mr. Mnuchin’s classmates from the Yale University undergraduate class of 1985 posted a letter online Friday asking Mr. Mnuchin to resign in protest of Mr. Trump’s comments.
‘It is your moral obligation,’ they said. ‘We know you are better than this, and we are counting on you to do the right thing.’ “
-Nick Timiraos, “Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Rejects Calls to Resign, Defends President Trump,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 19, 2017 10:20pm