President Trump’s milquetoast response to a protest by white supremacists that turned violent Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., was rebuked by Republicans in Congress — another breach in the growing rift between the commander in chief and his presumed allies on Capitol Hill.
Trump, in a series of tweets and statements, condemned hate and violence on “many sides.” But, the president treated the matter largely as a problem of law and order after violence erupted between white supremacists and counter-protesters who showed up to denounce them, declining to specifically call out the racists who marched in his name or the virulent, neo-Nazi ideology that fuels their fringe movement.
It wasn’t good enough for congressional Republicans, who expressed profound disappointment with the leader of their political party, and took to his favorite venue, Twitter, to pointedly criticize his remarks. And it wasn’t just typical Trump critics— some who are expected to work closely with the White House in the run-up to the 2018 elections also criticized the president.
“Mr. President – we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism,” tweeted Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, chairman of the NRSC, the Senate GOP campaign arm.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, dismissed Trump’s bland rhetroic in a way that was more subtle, but made the same point: “What ‘WhiteNatjonalist’ are doing in Charlottesville is homegrown terrorism that can’t be tolerated anymore that what Any extremist does,” the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee tweeted.
Next up was Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee with jurisdiction over writing the tax reform legislation that is a crucial part of Trump’s agenda.
“We should call evil by its name,” Hatch said. “My brother didn’t give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home.”
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Many of Trump’s supporters came to his defense as heavy criticism from across the spectrum piled up. But those individuals he needs on his side the most, Republicans in who hold his agenda in their hands, aren’t happy.
And they let him know it on Saturday.
“Very important for the nation to hear @POTUS describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., tweeted.
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Rift between Republicans and Trump widens after his Charlottesville reaction https://t.co/xqqtpEc7ey pic.twitter.com/ukQwQKsUWY
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) August 13, 2017
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