US President Donald Trump has slammed the country’s “dishonest” media outlets for misrepresenting his remarks, in which he condemned the activities of far-right groups after violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Following the deadly Charlottesville protests, Trump commented on the clashes between representatives of rival ideological movements blaming “both sides” for violence. Trump’s statement has been widely criticized by the country’s politicians and media outlets, which accused him of siding with the far-right participants of the clashes.
“They don’t report the facts. Just like they don’t want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry and violence and strongly condemned the neo-Nazis, the white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK),” Trump said on Tuesday during a rally in Arizona, as broadcast by the ABC News.
The president added that he had called for “unity, healing and love.”
The controversy arised following violence at a rally in Charlottesville, when the clashes between far-right nationalists protesting the removal of a monument dedicated to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee with counter-rally participants erupted. The unrest resulted in a car ramming attack that killed one woman and caused many injuries.
When commenting on the Charlottesville events, Trump suggested that tearing down statues of figures such as Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee begs the question of whether Thomas Jefferson’s and George Washington’s statues should be torn down as well.