The United States President Donald's Trumps controversial reaction to the violence in Charlottesville seems to be losing him friends even in his Republican backyard.
White supremacists bear full responsibility for the violence
Ronna Romney McDaniels, the Republican National Committee Chairperson, has joined the chorus of dissenting voices against Donald Trump. McDaniel, who received the President's support to become the RNC chairperson, has stated that the Ku Klux Klan and other White Supremacist organizations bear full responsibility for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville.
The Republican chairperson said white supremacists organized an event that was entirely aimed to sow hate and therefore should take responsibility for the violence.
She opined that apportioning blame was not feasible in Saturday's events because people were aware what led to the clashes.
Ms. McDaniel's comments have contradicted Trump's opinion that both sides - the white supremacists and Antifa - were to blame for the fatal fights on Saturday.
McDaniel's joins a growing number of influential figures in the United States, who have given Trump a tongue lashing for his claims that white supremacists, new age Nazis, and other white racist groups were not one hundred per cent responsible for Saturday's violence. The violence led to the death of Heather Heyer, who was killed after a white supremacist rammed a car into her as she crossed a street.
Charlottesville on Saturday became the center of bloody confrontations after white supremacists gathered to voice their opposition to the removal of a Confederate soldier.
However, the white nationalists were soon confronted by counter-protesters, and the situation quickly deteriorated into violence. The fights prompted the Virginia governor to declare a state of emergency in the area.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that there were bad people among the white supremacist protesters. Trump also seemingly avoided placing the blame directly on the white nationalists, saying that there were fine people on both sides of the opposing groups.
His comments won his praise from David Duke, a former top man at the KKK. Several members of the US Congress and two former US Presidents - both Republicans- have released statements speaking out against racial hatred.
Backlash from top Republicans
In a joint statement, former US Presidents George HW Bush and George W Bush stated that Americans must always anti-Semitism, racial hatred, and all other forms of bigotry.
Despite the widespread condemnation, many Republicans appear to be wary of clashing with Trump. According to ThinkProgress, less than twenty of the two hundred and ninety-two Republicans in the US Congress have released statements mentioning the President.