President Donald Trump, facing criticism over his initial statement on Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, directly condemned white supremacists and neo-Nazis as “repugnant” to American values.
“Racism is evil — and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” Trump said in a statement Monday from the White House.
“Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America,” Trump said.
Trump’s statement on the attack in Virginia, in which one woman was killed, followed heavy criticism of his remarks in the immediate aftermath of the riots and violence in Charlottesville Saturday. After the incident, Trump denounced “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” but was criticized for omitting an explicit condemnation of the white supremacist groups.