‘Empty Words’: Trump’s Late Denouncement of White Supremacists Overwhelmingly Seen as Too Little, Too Late
‘All It Took Was 3 Days of Crushing Public Pressure’
The immediate response to President Donald Trump’s insincere denouncement of white supremacists, three days after they first attacked in Virginia, is overwhelmingly being panned as too little, too late. In his exceptionally short two-minute speech, which began with self-praise for the economy, Trump neglected to label the murder of a 32-year old woman on Saturday as domestic terrorism. Trump’s own attorney general hours earlier had called it domestic terrorism.
Hundreds of white supremacists with torches marched on the University of Virginia Friday, and thousands of white supremacists held a rally on Saturday.
“Racism is evil,” Trump said Monday afternoon in a hastily-called press event, “and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists.”
On Saturday, Trump specifically refused to denounce white nationalism when asked if he would.Â
On social media, the response to Trump’s words was quick, and condemning.Â
Empty words, Donald. You want to help rid America of white supremacists? Start with your chief strategist in the White House. #FireBannon
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 14, 2017
I don’t want to hear one person say he’s “presidential”. Being presidential is not having to be *convinced* to condemn neo-Nazis and the KKK
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) August 14, 2017
All it took was 3 days of crushing public pressure for @realDonaldTrump to finally muster the courage to condemn nazism & racism.
— Congressman Tim Ryan (@RepTimRyan) August 14, 2017
It felt like @realDonaldTrump read the TelePrompTer message condemning hate groups like a hostage forced to read a statement by his captors.
— Bryan Cranston (@BryanCranston) August 14, 2017
2/ … compare it to how he handled today, and describing woman mowed down by a car driven by person described as admiring Hitler.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 14, 2017
Just remember, Trump lagged behind Tiki Torches, GoDaddy & Merckx directly denouncing white supremacists & nazis
— Adam Blickstein (@AdamBlickstein) August 14, 2017
We want the president to condemn white supremacists, but we deserve a president who wants to condemn them all on his own.
— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) August 14, 2017
Took 48hrs & extreme pressure to get @realDonaldTrump to uncomfortably read a statement he clearly didn’t believe from a TelePrompTer https://t.co/NVLLQfM0zF
— Jon Reinish (@JonReinish) August 14, 2017
Do not give @POTUS credit for spending 3 days of national hell to condemn neo-Nazi White Supremacists by name yet still adding and “others.”
— Anne Frank Center (@AnneFrankCenter) August 14, 2017
The bar of expectations have been so lowered for Trump that an insincere, 3-day condemnation of Nazis can garner pundit praise
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) August 14, 2017
Trump is so loathe to issue this statement, he has to lead up to it with a lengthy self-congratulation on the economy
— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) August 14, 2017
This “condemnation” was too little and too late. His words are completely hollow, and he simply won’t act.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) August 14, 2017
If Trump had given speech like this on Saturday, we’d have commended him. On Monday, it does nothing for me. Zero. I suspect, I’m not alone.
— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) August 14, 2017
Even the Chairman of the Republican Party in Virginia admitted Trump’s words should’ve been uttered on Saturday.
Chairman of Republican Party of Virginia: Trump’s statement today is what we wanted to hear on Saturday https://t.co/1mxJWtBskB
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) August 14, 2017
Trump’s condemnation of white supremacism came after a statement on the attacks in Virginia was released by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“The scenes at the right-wing extremist march were absolutely repulsive — naked racism, anti-Semitism and hate in their most evil form were on display,” a Merkel spokesperson said. “Such images and chants are disgusting wherever they may be and they are diametrically opposed to the political goals of the chancellor and the entire German government.”Â
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