When President Trump initially commented on the clash between white supremacists and those gathered in opposition to them in Charlottesville, Virginia, he said "many sides" were responsible for the violence. Two days later, after reportedly being urged to do so by his chief of staff, Trump issued a condemnation of the alt-right, he singled out the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists -- or white nationalists -- as being responsible for the violence. He didn't, however, disavow their support.
Yesterday, Trump came down the elevator at the Trump Tower in New York City, accompanied by high officials in his administration. What he had been expected to do by his staff was to read a short statement on a method for getting the rebuilding of the nation's infrastructure under way. Instead, Trump had come prepared to make the case for blaming the two sides for the violence that had occurred over the weekend. What he did was to essentially pull back the statement he had made the day before and go back to his Saturday statement, substituting "two sides" for "many sides."
There is much to chew over in Trump's exchanges with reporters in Trump Tower. One thing that really stuck out to me was Trump's insistence that he is different from most politicians, because he gathers all the facts before making a statement. This is about as far as one can get from the truth, as Trump is notorious for making snap judgments, such as labeling an attack as an act of international terrorism immediately upon learning of it. Trump even admitted that he didn't yet know all the facts and neither did the reporters. Perhaps, then, he should have let his Monday statement stand until more information conflicted with his earlier statement.
President Trump created a new grouping when he referred to those opposed to the white supremacists as the "alt-left." He challenged one reporter to characterize the violence of this alt-left group charging at their opponents with clubs in their hands. It was a reporter from, I believe, MSNBC, who said that almost all the white supremacists were armed and most of those protesting against them were unarmed. What can be gleaned from televised images of the conflict, the reporter's perspective seems to be accurate.
Trump also spoke of those fighting the removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee quietly protesting on Friday night and he said there were "nice people" in each group. A woman who had helped to arrange a standing-only service at the nearby United Church of Christ was interviewed at length on MSNBC. She spoke of the loud chanting going on outside from the torch-bearers, hearing
"Blood and Soil," "You will not replace us," "White lives matter." Those in the church couldn't leave by the front door because of the danger outside but exited by the side and rear doors. Nonetheless, they were subjected to angry threats when they left the service.
When President Trump referred to the removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee, he wondered if General Stonewall Jackson would be next. And in the next week would it be monuments to George Washington and the week after, Thomas Jefferson? Trump doesn't understand that there is a fundamental distinction among these four men: Lee and Jackson were committing treason against constituted government, while Washington and Jefferson are being honored for being giants in the formation of the new government. We can be very critical of both Washington and Jefferson for being slave owners and yet honor them for the many valuable contributions they made to the new nation.
In summary, what can be said of the impromptu meeting with the media yesterday is that President Trump elevated the status of the white supremacists, minimized the level of the violence they engaged in this past weekend, and very likely energized them to conduct more of these violence-laden gatherings in the future.
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