A bipartisan group of senators plans to introduce a resolution on Wednesday condemning the white nationalists who participated in the Charlottesville rallies in August, Politico reported Wednesday morning.
Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) will sponsor the resolution aimed at forcing President Donald Trump to either sign or reject a condemnation of “white nationalists, white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other hate groups.” Trump does not have to address most resolutions, but the sponsors will introduce it as a joint resolution, which would require Trump’s signature.
“Let there be no mistake: what happened in Charlottesville was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by a white supremacist, one that tragically cut short the life of a young woman, Heather Heyer, who was speaking out against hatred and bigotry,” Warner said in a statement to Politico. “We will be pressing our colleagues to swiftly and unanimously approve this resolution in order to send a strong message that the United States Congress unconditionally condemns racist speech and violence.”
In the wake of the deadly attack in Charlottesville, Trump failed to fully condemn white nationalists, instead claiming that “both sides” were at fault for the violence. Trump’s comments pandering to white nationalists prompted condemnations from Republican lawmakers, departures of CEOs from White House jobs panels and an exodus of charities from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
