Donald Trump is an unflinching critic of anything and everything he finds un-American. On Saturday, he flinched.
We know by now what it looks like when Donald Trump wants to condemn someone. Brit Hume is “a dope” and a “know-nothing.” Mika Brzezinski is “dumb as a rock” and “crazy.” Bill and Hillary Clinton were “the real predators.” Ted Cruz is a “wacko” and “weak.” Chuck Todd—“pathetic” and “very dishonest.” James Comey—“nutjob.” Intel leakers are “low-lifes” and Democrats are “phony hypocrites.” Republicans are “disloyal,” “naive” and “dishonest” while European leaders are “weak.” You get the idea.
Trump is quick to condemn—in specific and harsh terms—anyone he doesn’t like. He’s blunt, he’s direct, and he’s politically incorrect.
So it was striking on Saturday when Trump refused to denounce the white supremacists and neo-Nazis whose public rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, led to violence. The racists marched the streets hauling Nazi flags and torches, chanting, “you will not replace us” and “blood and soil.” They taunted counter-protesters and innocent passers-by.
And yet when their aggressive behavior triggered riots and violence in the streets of the quiet college town, the president declined to condemn them. What he offered instead was a cowardly, irresolute, passive statement criticizing the generic intolerance of unnamed groups.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides,” the president http://www.weeklystandard.com/white-nationalist-rally-turns-deadly-trump-condemns/article/2009270 (said) in a live statement. “On many sides."
If this generic, equivocal statement was an anomaly, it might be easier to dismiss. We’d hope it was an oversight and we’d wish Trump were more presidential. But we’ve seen this before.
