Trump’s Frustrations With The Media On Full Display As He Struggles To Explain His Charlottesville Comments

President Donald Trump cannot seem to understand why the media wants to know more about his position on white nationalists who caused violence in our nation this past weekend.

This past weekend, white supremacists descended on Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the possible removal of a statue depicting Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Counter-protesters came to challenge what seemed to be the true motivations of the supremacists, who had come to Charlottesville donning Nazi paraphernalia and carrying torches.

Several skirmishes broke out, including one incident in which an African-American man was beaten with pipes and pepper-sprayed by a group of white nationalists. Most notably, a woman named Heather Heyer was killed by a supremacist who through his hate decided to plow his car into a group of counter-protesters.

Trump responded on Saturday by condemning hatred and bigotry from “many sides.” But only one side killed Heather Heyer, and many on the left and right were rightly offended by Trump’s refusal to single out the white supremacists that created the violence in the first place.

So Trump spoke out again on Monday, this time speaking clearer on the matter, at least in his mind:

“Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups.”

This time, for sure, he thought the issue was settled.

But there were questions left to be answered. Why hadn’t the president condemned these hate groups from the start? When asked at a signing ceremony later in the day, Trump simply responded, “They’re condemned, they are condemned,” ignoring the point of the question altogether. He also derided the reporter who posed the question that many Americans wanted answered: “You’re fake news,” the president told him.

Later, Trump tweeted his frustrations with the media who couldn’t accept his statement from earlier in the day:

But Trump was even more upset with the media than he let on in his tweet. An AP article published later on Monday evening suggested that Trump was reluctant to have to even issue the second statement made earlier in the day. He didn’t want to appear like he had made a mistake in his first statement, made on Saturday, that blamed “many sides.” And he believed that the media unfairly portrayed that original statement — though lawmakers from Trump’s own party also wanted the president to be more precise about whom was to blame.

Apparently Trump didn’t want to be bothered to clear up his comments from before. And more questions from the media aren’t worth his time, in his mind at least.

But those questions are important to have answered, and the American people deserve to know why Trump was reluctant to denounce white supremacists in his initial statement. They still deserve to have those questions answered, but Trump is still reluctant to have an open conversation with the American people — which hardly instills confidence in his leadership on the issue.

 

Featured image from Michael Vadon on Flickr available under CC BY-SA 2.0.