President Donald Trump is “absolutely” planning to sign a resolution condemning hate groups, the White House said Wednesday, after both the Senate and the House passed a resolution in the wake of a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The measure formally condemns the acts of the white supremacists that gathered in Charlottesville last month to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. The rally ended in violence when a man affiliated with the white supremacists allegedly drove his car through a crowd of counter-protesters and killed one woman.
The resolution passed unanimously in the Senate on Monday and cleared the House on Tuesday. A White House spokesperson told Politico that there were “no announcements” on whether Trump would sign the measure when asked about it Tuesday evening.
But White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders cleared up any speculation Wednesday.
“The President was clear in his initial statement that he condemned hatred, bigotry, racism of all forms. He continues to stick to that message. He’s been very consistent in that fact,” she said during a press briefing Wednesday. “In terms of whether or not he’ll sign the joint resolution, absolutely, and he looks forward to doing so as soon as he receives it, which he hasn’t done as (of when) I came out here earlier.”
Trump was hesitant to formally condemn white supremacists and other hate groups in his initial response to the violence in Charlottesville. Once he did condemn them, 48-hours after the attack, he quickly dialed back on those statements during a press conference in which he blamed “both sides” for the violence. He claimed there were “fine people” on both sides of the protest.
.@PressSec Sarah Sanders says Pres. Trump will "absolutely" sign resolution condemning white supremacist groups. https://t.co/yMFe8CkXu8 pic.twitter.com/RKCia5Fefx
— ABC News (@ABC) September 13, 2017
