Trump isn’t just in the crosshairs of the media. Many Republicans have also come out after yesterday’s press conference against Trump’s comments:
WASHINGTON EXAMINER – President Trump on Tuesday reignited the controversy over his reaction to a Charlottesville, Va., white supremacist rally, opening the widest gulf between himself and Republican elected officials since the “Access Hollywood” tape nearly derailed his campaign last year.
A debate that started over Robert E. Lee and Civil War memorials now finds Trump dealing with an insurrection of his own.
“I don’t understand what’s so hard about this,” said Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “White supremacists and neo-Nazis are evil and shouldn’t be defended.”
“The president should have immediately denounced the racism, the bigotry, the hatred that he saw in Charlottesville. The president should have done that immediately,” said Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo. “And what he did today again goes back on what he said yesterday and that’s unacceptable. The president was wrong to do that.”
Between the two of them, they represent the campaign arms of the House and Senate GOP, respectively. They joined House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and 2008 Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona in a long list of current and former GOP elected officials who rebuked Trump.
Outraged Republicans protested that Trump was treating the racists and counterprotesters as morally equivalent, while detractors across the political spectrum said he was echoing the defenses offered by the alt-right.
“Trump needs to learn when to shut up. He once again brought a bad story back to life because he can’t take any criticism whatsoever,” said a Republican strategist who requested anonymity to discuss the president candidly. “This continued behavior is going to take down his presidency and probably a fair amount of good Republicans with it.”
“In the midst of a terrorist attack, every other president would be uniting the country and watching his poll numbers rise,” said a Republican operative working on House races. “But now, we’re having an extended debate about white supremacy. It’s mind-boggling.”
“At this point it’s not about party or harm to the brand,” Josh Holmes, former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s about basic decency. I don’t think he’s a racist but failing to provide moral clarity in what happened last weekend is something our country cannot afford.”
“We’re too divided,” Holmes added. “Too much distrust. Too much anger. You don’t need to be right when you’re president. You need to heal the nation and help everyone walk forward past our collective failures as a society and improve. Clearly, that’s not happening here.”
Some Republicans also argued that Trump’s reticence was also self-defeating, since he usually ends up ultimately chastising racists anyway. “Why not just do it to start with?” asked a GOP consultant. “Why not give Monday’s statement on Saturday and never look back?”
We posted yesterday what Rubio said after the press conference.
Here is what Paul Ryan said:
We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 15, 2017
And Mitt Romney:
No, not the same. One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) August 16, 2017
And McLame:
There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry. The President of the United States should say so
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) August 16, 2017
I’m sure there’s more but I don’t have time to hunt it all down.