Trump Team Reacts To Celebratory Nazi Salutes: We ‘Denounce Racism’

US Presidential election. File photo dated 25/06/16 of Donald Trump visiting his Trump International Golf Links at Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, as it has been reported that Mr Trump urged Nigel Farage to oppose offshore ... US Presidential election. File photo dated 25/06/16 of Donald Trump visiting his Trump International Golf Links at Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, as it has been reported that Mr Trump urged Nigel Farage to oppose offshore wind farms at a recent meeting. Issue date: Tuesday November 22, 2016. The president-elect has long been a critic of offshore wind farms, having fought against such a project near his Aberdeenshire golf resort. See PA story POLITICS President Wind. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire URN:29246285 MORE LESS
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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:

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