Trump finally comments on white nationalist rally, violence in Charottesville
After hours of silence, President Donald Trump finally commented on the white nationalist rally and related violence happening in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday.
We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2017
“We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for,” the president tweeted. “There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!”
He added a second tweet soon after:
Am in Bedminster for meetings & press conference on V.A. & all that we have done, and are doing, to make it better-but Charlottesville sad!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2017
SEE ALSO: A round of applause for student counter-protesters who stood up to white supremacists at UVA
Trump tweeted after 1 p.m. on Saturday, almost two hours after Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville and the city determined the scheduled Unite the Right rally protesting the removal of Confederate monuments to be a form of unlawful assembly.
His tweet took a long time, and it came after Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and even First Lady Melania Trump had already commented.
The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.
Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 12, 2017
Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let’s communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence. #Charlottesville
Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) August 12, 2017
Their commentary made the president’s earlier silence particularly noticeable. And plenty of other people had their own reactions as well.
Mr. President?
Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) August 12, 2017
Hell of a day for the President to forget how to tweet. pic.twitter.com/ABffmwwH8D
J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 12, 2017
This is on-purpose vague bc ur a wimp that stands 4 nothing & ur ignorant arrogance &total lack of impulse control is gonna get us killed https://t.co/rzcZcZmYDS
Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) August 12, 2017
The word ‘Charlottesville’ does not appear in this Tweet. Man who blasted libs for not saying ‘Islamic’ terror avoids ‘white nationalist.’ https://t.co/zFEQUWfO6U
Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) August 12, 2017
Just a reminder that this is what @POTUS tweeted after the protests that triggered cancellation of Milo Yiannopoulos’s speech at Berkeley. https://t.co/8rsY6KgaLQ
Jane Chong (@chongathon) August 12, 2017
“Anyone who cannot name our enemy is not fit to lead this country,” Trump said in September (referring to “radical Islamic terrorists”). https://t.co/MkELG0dJlI
David Mack (@davidmackau) August 12, 2017
The White House has no official connection to the rally planned in Charlottesville, but many of the marchers were Trump supporters who praised the president while they waved Nazi and Confederate flags. One Twitter user captured video of marchers yelling, “Heil Trump.”
Alt-right marcher shouting “Heil Trump.” pic.twitter.com/vAaXq5pFYc
Tom Perriello (@tomperriello) August 12, 2017
Some of the violence in Virginia was between the white nationalist protesters and counter-protesters perhaps why Trump’s comment focusing on us all “[coming] together as one.”
As J.K. Rowling said, hell of a day to forget how to tweet.
Read more: http://mashable.com/2017/08/12/trump-tweet-charlottesville/