After backsliding at a Tuesday afternoon press conference where he railed against what he called the “alt-left” and said that both “sides” held some blame for the violence in Charlottesville over the weekend, President Donald Trump faced criticism from a few Republican lawmakers.
A few GOP members of Congress directly called out Trump for pandering to white supremacists by refusing to place blame on them for the deadly attack in Charlottesville. And some Republicans reiterated their condemnations of white nationalists without calling out Trump by name.
Directly criticizing the President
After Trump’s off-the-rails press conference, some Republicans explicitly criticized him for failing yet again to condemn white nationalists.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) offered a tweetstorm bashing Trump and denouncing white supremacists.
The organizers of events which inspired & led to #charlottesvilleterroristattack are 100% to blame for a number of reasons. 1/6
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 15, 2017
They are adherents of an evil ideology which argues certain people are inferior because of race, ethnicity or nation of origin. 2/6
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 15, 2017
When entire movement built on anger & hatred towards people different than you,it justifies & ultimately leads to violence against them 3/6
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 15, 2017
These groups today use SAME symbols & same arguments of #Nazi & #KKK, groups responsible for some of worst crimes against humanity ever 4/6
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 15, 2017
Mr. President,you can’t allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame.They support idea which cost nation & world so much pain 5/6
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 15, 2017
The #WhiteSupremacy groups will see being assigned only 50% of blame as a win.We can not allow this old evil to be resurrected 6/6
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 15, 2017
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and several other Republicans also directly called out the President on Twitter.
Blaming "both sides" for #Charlottesville?! No. Back to relativism when dealing with KKK, Nazi sympathizers, white supremacists? Just no.
— Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) August 15, 2017
Mr. President, there were not "very fine people" on the NeoNazi, white supremacist side; only haters. Grateful DOJ understands this. https://t.co/MDmYPcUP5h
— Barbara Comstock (@BarbaraComstock) August 15, 2017
There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry. The President of the United States should say so
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) August 16, 2017
I don't understand what's so hard about this. White supremacists and Neo-Nazis are evil and shouldn't be defended.
— Steve Stivers (@RepSteveStivers) August 15, 2017
@POTUS must stop the moral equivalency! AGAIN, white supremacists were to blame for the violence in #Charlottesville.
— Rep. Charlie Dent (@RepCharlieDent) August 15, 2017
Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) told CNN that Trump should “apologize” for his comments at the press conference. Hurd said that “racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism of any form is unacceptable” and that the “leader of the free world should be unambiguous about that.”
At a town hall in Colorado, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) said that Trump was “wrong” to go back on what he said on Monday when he explicitly condemned white nationalists, the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis.
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) issued a statement criticizing Trump.
“As I said this weekend, white supremacy, bigotry and racism have absolutely no place in out society, and no one — especially the President of the United States — should ever tolerate it. We must all come together as a country and denounce this hatred to the fullest extent,” he said.
Condemned white nationalists
Other Republicans distanced themselves from Trump’s press conference by reiterating their condemnations for white nationalists and hate groups like the KKK, but without explicitly naming Trump.
We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 15, 2017
When it comes to white supremacists & neo-nazis, there can be no equivocating: they’re propagators of hate and bigotry. Period.
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) August 15, 2017
KKK, neo-Nazi, & white supremacist groups spew bigotry & racism. These groups & their ideals are the antithesis of American patriotism.
— David Perdue (@sendavidperdue) August 15, 2017
Saturday's violence and tragic loss of life was a direct consequence of the hateful rhetoric & action from white supremacists demonstrating.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) August 15, 2017
We must speak out clearly against the hatred, racism and white supremacists who descended upon #Charlottesville.
— Rob Portman (@senrobportman) August 15, 2017
She has been:
Talk is cheap. Resign or switch parties, and quit voting for what Rump wants you to.
If they shelter in place, they are apt to have a say in Trump’s impeachment. Any replacements are apt to be worse.
Memo to Republicans expressing outrage over their president’s position on white supremacists: Talk is cheap. You must act. Then I’ll believe you’re sincere.