It sure didn’t take long for Donald Trump to clear up any confusion about exactly who he was referring to when he made his weak statement against racism on Monday. Trump finished his golf vacation, despite the murder of a young woman by an alt-right activist in Charlottesville on Saturday. The statement he issued that day caused many to wonder just who he was referring to when he referenced violence “on many sides.” Then, after serious pressure from not just the public, but even Congressional Republicans, he issued another statement Monday afternoon:
“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 that are repugnant to all that we hold dear as Americans.”
Glaringly absent from Trump’s condemnation was one major contributor to the racist movement in America. Perhaps two, if you see it as two different groups: White nationalists and the alt-right. Largely, the alt-right describes themselves with the term “nationalists,” so for the sake of this article, it’s just them.
Richard Spencer, a leading member of the alt-right, made headlines himself Monday by declaring that he knew Trump wasn’t talking about “them.” Also, Andrew Anglin, the founder of the internet’s pre-eminent Nazi website, The Daily Stormer, knew on Saturday that Trump wouldn’t be criticizing white nationalists:
“People saying he cucked are shills and kikes. He did the opposite of cuck. He refused to even mention anything to do with us. When reporters were screaming at him about White Nationalism he just walked out of the room.”
When Trump got back “home” to Trump Tower Monday night, it took him no time at all to prove them right. First, he made a big show of how much he loves the White House (after being caught calling it a dump), then his very first retweet — his most common type of tweet — was from another prominent alt-right leader, Jack Posobiec.
Feels good to be home after seven months, but the White House is very special, there is no place like it… and the U.S. is really my home!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2017
Meanwhile: 39 shootings in Chicago this weekend, 9 deaths. No national media outrage. Why is that? https://t.co/9Crutnnrp8
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 14, 2017
Posobiec isn’t only known for his promulgation of Sean Hannity’s insane Seth Rich/DNC conspiracy theories; he was also the brainchild behind the alt-right’s effort to smear Trump resisters with a “Rape Melania” sign at a protest, held up by someone hired by Posobiec to pose as an anti-Trump protester.
Way to go, Donald. We know whose side you’re on now. After all, with one member of the alt-right writing your speeches and another in your ear as chief strategist, how could you possibly have been talking about them?
Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images
