President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team released a statement Monday in response to a white nationalist organization’s meeting celebrating his election, which denounced racism without mentioning the group in question.
“President-elect Trump has continued to denounce racism of any kind, and he was elected because he will be a leader for every American,” a statement from his transition team reads, according to the Huffington Post. “To think otherwise is a complete misrepresentation of the movement that united Americans from all backgrounds.”
The National Policy Institute, which its website says is “dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent,” held a conference Saturday in the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, D.C. Reports from the event described attendees giving Nazi salutes and shouting “Heil victory!”
Richard Spencer, the group’s founder who claims to have invented the term “alt-right,” ended his own remarks by toasting with “Heil Trump!” and “Heil our people!”
Spencer said Monday that those terms were meant to be “cheeky,” “exuberant” and “ironic.”
A video from The Atlantic shows the response to his remarks:
And by ‘denounce’ we mean ‘celebrate’.
All backgrounds: Skinheads, Klukkkers, birthers, racists, misogynists, homophobes, Birchers, Neo-nazis, …
Why of course he will
It’s the absolute least they could say, but i’m surprised they said anything at all about it.
Neo Nazis: We were just joking about all that racist stuff (wink wink)
Trump: I denounce racism (wink wink).
Everybody’s such a kidder!