Seven years ago, as the country was still healing from the chaos and violence of the white supremacist-led Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, which has since been connected to one death and dozens of injuries, Donald Trump was getting praise from white nationalists and refusing to condemn their violent acts.
After Trump claimed “many sides” caused the violence in Charlottesville, he reluctantly read a tepid, mealy-mouthed statement from a teleprompter on August 14. Neo-Nazis like Richard Spencer dismissed the remarks as “hollow” and declared Trump did not denounce the alt-right movement or white nationalism. Spencer later admitted that the Unite the Right rally “wouldn’t have occurred without Trump.”
After the rally, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke thanked President Trump for his “honesty & courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa.”
Andrew Anglin, the editor of The Daily Stormer, the far-right, neo-Nazi, white supremacist, misogynist, Islamophobic, and antisemitic website, said Trump “refused to mention anything to do with us. When reporters were screaming at him about white Nationalism he just walked out of the room.”
Following Charlottesville, Trump continued to court the support of prominent white supremacists. Trump was endorsed by David Duke again in 2020 and invited white supremacist Nick Fuentes for dinner at Mar-a-Lago in 2022 out of fear of alienating his base.
“White nationalists pointed to Donald Trump and his hateful rhetoric as the inspiration for the deadly Charlottesville rally that led to a tragic death and scores of injuries from violent clashes with neo-Nazi antagonists. Seven years have passed since that chaotic weekend and this fucking guy hasn’t changed a thing. He’s still palling around Mar-a-Lago with infamous white supremacists, telling racist lies about Kamala Harris’ ethnicity, and fanning the flames of hate with his cruel plan to deport millions of people beginning on day one of his presidency,” said American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Brandon Weathersby. “People died as a result of Trump embracing hate and emboldening white nationalists. He cannot be allowed to do so from the White House ever again.”
Published: Aug 14, 2024