August 15, 2017

Trump Refuses to Blame White Nationalists for Charlottesville Violence. Now They’re Celebrating.

“Thank you…for your honesty & courage,” says David Duke.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

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At a press conference at Trump Tower this afternoon, President Donald Trump backtracked on his Monday speech condemning white supremacists for the deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend. This time, he again blamed the “many sides” of the conflict—including the “alt-left”—and criticized the movement to remove Confederate statues.

While Trump’s critics are calling him out for reversing his position, white nationalists are quite pleased. Their Twitter reactions to the press conference have bordered on elation, with one tweet likening the president to a god. Here’s a sampling:

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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