Yup.
US President Donald Trump has again blamed both sides for the violent unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left one protester dead and others injured.
In a statement on Monday, he had condemned white supremacists.
But in New York on Tuesday he also blamed left-wing supporters for charging at the “alt-right”.
He also defended the time it took to make his statement, saying he had wanted to establish all the facts.
Mr Trump had been accused over the weekend of failing to condemn the far right specifically.
Heather Heyer, 32, died and 19 others were hurt when a car was driven into people protesting against a far-right march in Charlottesville on Saturday.
Mr Trump said that the car driver was a disgrace to himself and his country.
The whole response to Charlottesville has been a prime display of the hyper-polarized cultural environment we are currently in. The same people who say that we must take a nuanced view and response of phenomena like Islamist Terrorism or Black Lives Matter, which we must, are enforcing a rigid binary response to Charlottesville. What we are supposed to do, according to the media and the Left, is categorically condemn the white nationalists as the bad guys here and that’s it. Any suggestion of a more complicated story than “racist white Americans caused a riot that killed people” is to be included among those racists.
Trump is trying to present a more comprehensive response to what happened. It appears that we had at least four broad groups at work here. First, we had white nationalist and Nazi bigots. Second, we had Antifa anarchists and communist provocateurs. Third, we had relatively normal people protesting the removal of Confederate statues and purging of Southern history. Fourth, we had relatively normal people protesting the racists white nationalists and Nazis.
Primarily, we had the first and second groups enter into the day with the intention to provoke violence and they succeeded. There’s a lot of fault to go around and it is possible to condemn the Nazis and white nationalists with all possible vigor and still condemn the actions of the Antifa movement which has repeatedly sparked destruction and violence. One does not detract from the other.
The side issues around this are also worth exploring. Were the police properly deployed to keep the competing protests separated? It appears that the driver of the car was on anti-psychotic drugs. We have seen that be related to violence before. Are we properly helping the mentally ill?
Instead of focusing on whether or not Trump sufficiently condemned the white nationalists (he did), wouldn’t it be a more useful exercise to try to understand the undercurrents of our culture that led to what happened in Charlottesville?
There were no “relatively normal people protesting the removal of Confederate statues” present at this racist rally. Any normal decent person sees a group of Nazis and either walks way from them or joins a group protesting against them.
I agree that the violent leftists provocateurs share some of the blame for what transpired, but providing cover for any group that associates with white supremacists is wrong.
>Any normal decent person sees a group of Nazis and either walks way from them or joins a group protesting against them.
False dichotomy.
Explain yourself Jason. What should a “very fine” person do when they find themselves in the midst of white supremacists?
I’ve never been to Charlottesville, but I imagine it’s a large city and there are places to protest what you feel is wrong without being identified as a White Nationalist or Nazi. Am I wrong?
I’d also imagine that if one was protesting and “found themselves in the midst of white supremacists”, getting away from that would need to be done carefully. But your false dichotomy above is just childish.
Wasn’t 3rd Way part of that Folkbum shit show that had that blatantly racist Bert as a contributor?
Guess that makes him a racist by association.
>Guess that makes him a racist by association.
I guess Michael Moore just confirmed that in a recent interview… by saying roughly – anyone that supports Trump is racist. More false dichotomy.
What’s good for the bloated gander….
It’s just locker room white supremacy.
So pat, I guess that makes all Bill Clinton supporters unfaithful spouses and philanderers? Idiot.
Jason,
I guess yes, if that’s what you believe.
Trump condemned the Neo-Nazi and the KKK but he also pointed out there was violence on the other side. Rightly so. No one can argue the justification for anyone running over people no matter if they are Neo-Nazi or radical Islamists but the violent tactics of the fringe left are well documented. Some just cannot accept reality, instead choosing to twist President Trump’s words to paint him as a white nationalist, Neo-Nazi KKK sympathizer.
My apologizes if I triggered any snowflakes with my micro aggression by calling Donald Trump our President. We’ll find a safe place for you away from reality.
I’m glad you find Trump an outstanding President. Even if if your in the minority in the USA.
It warms my heart watching the peaceful vigil in Charlottesville tonight.
“Even if if your in the minority in the USA.”
It’s “you’re,” fuckwad.
306 > 232
Deal with it. Fuckwad.
34% current approval rating.
We should call this the “Trump Treatment.” To feed their addiction, outrage addicts (and the Main Stream Media – my addition) have embraced the following idiotic syllogism: ‘I am mad at people who say X. I am mad at you. Therefore you said X.’ So ‘I’ will apologize over and over for something I never said and the outrage addicts will just return to their mantra. Plagiarized from the Federalist.
Trump jumped the shark. He’s now, in effect, a lame duck president.
Pat,
I guess yes, if that’s what you believe.
It’s what I believe. So far he’s accomplished nothing legislatively. He’s insulted those in the Republican party, he’s lost corporate support, and he’s lied consistently to the American public. He’s way over his head.
>So far he’s accomplished nothing legislatively.
I’m confused. Is the Office of the President in the Legislative branch or the Executive branch of US Government? Maybe that’s part of your problem?
What has he done as a leader to advance his agenda? He promised the world and has delivered nothing.
Nobody cares what you think, pissant. Go fuck yourself.
That goes double for your goldbricking REMF relatives, too.
>What has he done as a leader to advance his agenda?
You and I both know, as does everyone following along in their homes, on their phones, or on their watches… I’m not going to convince you otherwise. The only thing I’ll say is which of the past 5 presidents hasn’t promised the world during their campaign, and which have delivered on even a small percentage of them?
To be perfectly honest with you, this is what I wanted when I was forced to choose between voting for Trump or Clinton. As a conservative I’ve been concerned a long time about the disappearance of the three branches of government, and also concerned with the growing power grabs from our Federal government.
Pat’s just a kidfucking piece of dogshit.
I’m far from a HRC fan and even a farther distance fan of Trump. I voted for neither one for President. But Trump has proven himself to be an embarrassment to the office and the country. He’s a morally corrupt individual, much like Paul.
Awful big words there, kiddy diddler.
>I’m far from a HRC fan and even a farther distance fan of Trump. I voted for neither one for President. But Trump has proven himself to be an embarrassment to the office and the country.
I’ll counter with a simple word switch.
I’m far from a Trump fan and even a farther distance fan of HRC. But HRC has proven herself to be an embarrassment to the office(s she has held) and the country.
Jason,
But HRC is not the President representing us on the world stage.
Paul,
Not big words, just an honest observation about a sissy brat.
You were proven to be a sniveling bitch this week. Now you’re my prag bitch. Bend over.
I love it when you call me your mom’s name!
Nobody cares, kid raper.
I love it when you call me your dad’s name too!