President Trump on Saturday blamed the unrest in Charlottesville on the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.’’
Speaking at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ, he added, “it has been going on for a long time in our country.’’
Without naming any person or group, he called for a “study’’ of the “situation.’’
Trump said he spoke with Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and they agreed “the hate and division must stop and must stop right now.’’
Several politicians from both parties criticized Trump for what he left unsaid.
GOP Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado tweeted, “We must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who had been a contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, tweeted, “Very important to the nation to hear @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists.’’
The Senate’s second highest ranking Republican, Utah’s Orrin Hatch, recalled in a tweet his brother’s death in World War II.
“We should call evil by its name. My brother didn’t give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home,” Hatch tweeted.
Asked for clarification of Trump’s statements, a White House official told NBC:
“The president was condemning hatred, bigotry and violence from all sources and all sides.
“There was violence between protesters and counter-protesters today.”
With Post wires