Trump strongly denounces white supremacists, domestic terrorists after weekend massacres
After two shootings in less than 24 hours massacred 31 people and injured dozens more, President Donald Trump denounced racism and white supremacy.
“In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America,” the president said in a speech from the White House Monday.
President Trump’s comments Monday stand in contrast to his reaction to the deadly 2017 protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, by self-proclaimed “white nationalists.” Trump was widely criticized for his response to the “Unite the Right” rally when he said “you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.”
At a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, a gunman opened fire on back-to-school shoppers, killing at least 22 and injuring many more on Saturday afternoon. Police arrested a 20-year-old man and say he had posted a racist anti-immigrant manifesto online just before the massacre, according to USA Today.
Just 13 hours later, another man opened fire at a bar crowded with Saturday night customers in Dayton, Ohio. Nine people were killed and 27 injured in the minute before police killed the gunman, NBC News reports.
“These barbaric slaughters are an assault on our communities, an attack on our nation and a crime against all humanity,” President Trump said Monday at the White House. “We are outraged and sickened by this monstrous evil, the cruelty, the hatred, the malice, the bloodshed, and the terror.
“The first lady and I join all Americans in pray and grieving for the victims, their families and the survivors. We will stand by their side forever. We will never forget,” Trump also said.
Earlier Monday, Trump tweeted a call for lawmakers to strengthen background checks for gun buyers. But he also said the gun control measures could be tied to a deal on immigration reform.
“We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!” the president tweeted.
“We cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, die in vain. Likewise for those so seriously wounded. We can never forget them, and those many who came before them,” Trump said on Twitter.
The president has been criticized from Republicans and Democrats alike for inflaming racial tensions.
After the deadly “Unite the Right” rally when white supremacists carried flaming torches through Charlottesville, Virginia, the president said, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides,” according to NPR.
Many people took exception to Trump’s mention of “many sides” after a protester ran down a group of counter-protesters with a car, killing one.
The next day, Trump told reporters, “You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides,” according to NPR.
The president’s rhetoric has included words like “infest” to describe immigration. In one highly criticized tweet from July 2018, Trump said, “Democrats are the problem. They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country.”
And more recently, Trump supporters at a rally in North Carolina targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with chants of “send her back, send her back.” Omar, a Democrat, is an American citizen and refugee from Somalia.
This story was originally published August 5, 2019 at 10:22 AM.
