WASHINGTON — Reactions are pouring in after President Donald Trump insisted both sides were responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia where protestors clashed at a “Unite the Right” rally.
“I think there’s blame on both sides and I have no doubt about it.”
During a news conference Tuesday, President Trump insisted the fault needs to be shared for the violence this weekend in Virginia.
“You had a group on one side that was bad and a group on the other side that was very violent. No one wants to say it, but I’ll say it.”
Reaction from both sides of the aisle was swift and strongly worded:
Rep. David Kustoff, a Tennessee Republican who represents much of the Channel 3 viewing area outside Memphis, said this to the Jackson Chamber of Commerce:
“We know that our nation has had a rough several days after the events in Charlottesville this past weekend. Make no mistake – White Supremacists, the KKK, neo-Nazis and all groups that preach hate, prejudice, racism and bigotry have no place in our country and must be explicitly condemned. As a United States Attorney, I prosecuted federal hate crimes. I strongly encourage the Department of Justice to follow through on the investigation from last weekend’s events.”
Others called out the president for his most recent statement.
“Our country and our commonwealth needs to heal, and that means you have to call out the violence creators,” said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia.
“Racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism of any form is unacceptable,” added Representative Will Hurd.
Former KKK leader David Duke supported the statements tweeting in part “Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists…”
The president leaves Trump Tower Wednesday to head back to his golf course in New Jersey and continue his working vacation.
