This weekend in Virginia was one shrouded in protest, hatred, and violence. Protests started on Friday night at the University of Virginia. White supremacists and counter protesters clashed on Friday night. On Saturday, as the white nationalists prepared for the "Unite the Right" rally, further clashes occurred. There was fighting and all sorts of violence, including the use of pepper spray. Then suddenly, a gray car barreled down the road, aimed at a group of counter protesters. One person was killed in the incident and 19 others were injured.
President Donald Trump has since issued a statement, condemning such violence and encouraging greater unity.
Trump's statement
Trump's main statement about the events in Charlottesville, Virginia was as follows, "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence, on many sides. On many sides. It's been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time."
Trump added that the events in Charlottesville make him terribly sad, according to Real Clear Politics. He called on all Americans to unite and remember how great their nation is. He said that he believes that this "hatred" and "division" needs to go.
The president told the press that he condemns the events in Virginia. He wants all Americans to realize that they are not so very different from each other. They should use their great nation to unite with each other.
Reactions to the president's statement
Trump's statement has been met with a fair share of criticism. According to CNN, Trump is going too easy on the white supremacists who are responsible for this violence.
Trump has simply declared that all sides bring about violence, without informing the white nationalists alone that they are to blame. Furthermore, the president has been criticized for spending so little time focusing on the event before moving on to other stories. Trump practically brushed over the story before moving on to the many great things that are happening in the country and his contributions to the nation.
It seems as though Trump is not speaking the blunt truth that he promised the nation he would speak. In a tweet, Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado told President Trump that it is time to call evil out for what it is. Trump is being accused of shirking the blame and responsibility and then moving on.
The events in Virginia this past weekend are a terrible reminder of the amount of work that still needs to be done in America. There is still much work that needs to be done before the United States can truly call themselves a "free" country. Our thoughts are with the families who have suffered as a result of the violence in Virginia.
