On Saturday, August 12, a white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, went horribly wrong. As white supremacists gathered for a "Unite the Right" rally, fights broke out between them and counter-protestors. Fists began flying and pepper spray was used and a man by the name of James Fields Jr., drove his car straight into a group of counter-protestors. Heather Heyer was killed in the incident and 19 others were injured. Heyer's mother has been so caught up in grief and in the planning of the funeral, that she didn't see trump's statement about the violence until later this week.
Now that she has seen what Trump said, she has told media that she refuses to speak to the President - at least for now.
Why won't she speak to the President?
Heyer's Mom, Susan Bro, was caught up in grief, following her daughter's death. She was busy sorting out the funeral and setting up a foundation in her daughter's name, according to CNN. So busy, in fact, that she didn't watch the news for a few days. After the funeral on Wednesday, things calmed down a bit and the sad Mom had some time to watch the news. It was then that she saw Trump's press conference about the violence in Charlottesville.
According to Bloomberg Politics, Bro was horrified that Trump would compare her own daughter to the KKK and to the white supremacists.
She told media that Trump was out of line to have blamed both sides for the violence. Bro started getting phone calls from the White House on Wednesday. According to CNN, she received several phone calls, during the funeral, which she ignored. Bro told the press that she would not forgive Trump for his words about her daughter and that he couldn't expect to simply fix everything with a handshake.
According to Bro, it is time that the President learns to think before he speaks.
What does Trump have to say?
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted about Heyer, saying that she was a "truly special" lady. He immediately faced criticism for tweeting his condolences rather than phoning Heyer's mother. On Wednesday, he got the White House to start calling Bro on his behalf.
It is clear that he wishes to apologize for his comments and offer his condolences.
However, it seems that the President is not exactly in Bro's good books. He may have to keep at it to show that he truly is sincere and that he has learned from his actions. As always, our thoughts and prayers go out to those that are suffering as a result of the Virginia violence.
