Four Republicans in Michigan's delegation on Capitol Hill join Democratic colleagues from the state in sharply denouncing the president's latest comments on weekend violence in Charlottesville, Va.
"You can't be a 'very fine person' and be a white supremacist," tweets Rep. Paul Mitchell, using President Trump's phrase and tagging @POTUS. Mitchell, elected last November on the same day as the president, is a Republican whose district includes part of Macomb County.
He and others react to Trump's renewed claims that "there is another side" to clashes at rallies staged by white supremacists.
"You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent," he said at a fiery, 23-minute news conference at the Trump Tower lobby in Manhattan.
"There's blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it."
He added:
"You had a group on the other side [counter-protesters] that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent. . . .
"Not all of those people were White Supremacists, by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue, Robert E. Lee. . . . They were people protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee. . . .
"You had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists. OK? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly. . . . There are two side to a story."
[Two-minute video is below. Full transcript is here.]
That stretch to suggest moral equivalency between extremists and counter-protesters sparks a national outcry that dominated newscasts, social media and evening talk shows.
Michigan's two Democratic senators post these responses:
The President blames 'many sides' but he should know that white supremacists & neo-nazis sow hate & violence and are wrong. It's that simple
— Senator Gary Peters (@SenGaryPeters) August 15, 2017
There aren't "2 sides" when it comes to hate. Only right & wrong. It's shameful that @RealDonaldTrump can't find the courage to say it.
— Debbie Stabenow (@stabenow) August 15, 2017
On the Republican side, these Michiganians in the House distance themselves from their party's figurehead:
"Very fine people" do not participate in rallies with groups chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans and displaying vile symbols of hate.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) August 15, 2017
You can't be a "very fine person" and be a white supremacist @POTUS
— Rep. Paul Mitchell (@RepPaulMitchell) August 15, 2017
The violence in Charlottesville over the weekend, and the hatred behind it, is abhorrent. pic.twitter.com/iMfPIT7yEF
— Rep Tim Walberg (@RepWalberg) August 14, 2017
The Michigan delegation's first Republican to push back is Rep. Fred Upton, who tweeted Friday night as the weekend rallies began in Virginia:
It threatens the very core of our country: Tolerance, acceptance, & embracing diversity. We must join together to oppose this divisiveness.
— Fred Upton (@RepFredUpton) August 12, 2017
Among Democrats, these criticisms of the president are posted:
Thoroughly disgusted by Trump's #charlottesville statements today. White supremacists, neo-Nazis, racism and hatred are the culprits.
— John Conyers, Jr. (@RepJohnConyers) August 16, 2017
Trump's rhetoric is dangerous and continues to embolden these extremist groups and ideals.
— John Conyers, Jr. (@RepJohnConyers) August 16, 2017
I call on my colleagues and every decent American to condemn this rhetoric and the domestic terrorism it helps fuel. #Charlottesville
— John Conyers, Jr. (@RepJohnConyers) August 16, 2017
You cannot defend any member of the KKK, neo-Nazis, or white supremacists. They are pure evil, &anyone who fails to denounce it enables it.
— Rep. Debbie Dingell (@RepDebDingell) August 16, 2017
The President of the United States should not have to be publicly shamed into condemning neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
— Rep. Dan Kildee (@RepDanKildee) August 14, 2017
Lastly, this colorfully outspoken congressional veteran from western Wayne County also chimes in Tuesday with characteristic panache:
This President is an embarrassment.
— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) August 15, 2017
President Trump just referred to a group of violent white nationalists, supremacists, segregationists, and neo-Nazis as "very fine people."
— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) August 15, 2017
Are there any elected Republicans willing to speak with courage tonight and denounce President Trump's public embrace of racist hatemongers?
— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) August 16, 2017