This afternoon, as reported by Daily Kos, Donald J Trump doubled down on “both sides” for causing violence in Charlottesville. I am pasting the text Politico has provided just so Kossacks can see what POTUS45 said in responses at his Trump Tower presser.
REPORTER: Steve Bannon --
TRUMP: I never spoke to Mr. Bannon about it.
REPORTER: Can you tell us broadly about – do you still have confidence in Steve?
TRUMP: Well, we’ll see. And look, look, I like Mr. Bannon. He is a friend of mine, but Mr. Bannon came on very late. You know that. I went through 17 senators, governors and I won all the primaries. Mr. Bannon came on very much later than that, and I like him. He is a good man. He is not a racist – I can tell you that. He is a good person, he actually gets very unfair press in that regard. We'll see what happens with Mr. Bannon. He’s a good person, and I think the press treats him frankly very unfairly.
REPORTER: They have called on you to defend your national security adviser H.R. McMaster against these attacks.
TRUMP: I did that before. Senator McCain? Senator McCain. You mean the one that voted against Obamacare? Who is Senator McCain? You mean senator McCain who voted against us getting good health care?
REPORTER: Senator McCain said that the alt-right is behind these attacks, and he linked that same group to those that perpetrated the attack in Charlottesville.
TRUMP: Well, I don't know. I can't tell you. I'm sure Senator McCain must know what he is talking about, but when you say the alt-right, define alt-right to me. You define it. Go ahead. Define it for me, come on, let's go.
REPORTER: Senator McCain defined them as the same group.
TRUMP: Okay, what about the alt-left that came charging at [indiscernible] – excuse me – what about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt right? Do they have any semblance of guilt?
REPORTERS YELL INDISTINCTLY
TRUMP: What about this? What about the fact that they came charging – they came charging with clubs in their hands swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do.
REPORTERS YELL INDISTINCTLY
TRUMP: As far as I’m concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day. Wait a minute, I'm not finished. I'm not finished, fake news. That was a horrible day.
REPORTERS YELL INDISTINCTLY
TRUMP: I will tell you something. I watched those very closely, much more closely than you people watched it. And you had, you had a group on one side that was bad. And you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now. You had a group – you had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent.
REPORTER: Do you think what you call the alt left is the same as neo-Nazis?
TRUMP: Those people – all of those people, excuse me – I've condemned neo-Nazis. I've condemned many different groups, but not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch.
Trump co-opted a term that was used by the Establishment media and even FPers at this blog: alt-left. I’ve seen it at other center-left websites, but I will limit my remarks to this one.
Anyone still pretending last year's election was about "economic anxiety" anymore? I mean, outside of the alt-left that is.
--Markos
https://twitter.com/markos/status/896747477428314112
Folks here seem to have amnesia about how Trump can turn a phrase and co-opt it for his own purposes to feed the beast (the media).
Bernie Sanders, Jane Sanders, Our Revolution, and others wasted no time in denouncing Trump in his despicable commentary:
Bernie released another update just moments ago:
Jane Sanders also tweeted her thoughts:
The People for Bernie have posted a tweet to the Indivisible Guide for Standing in Solidarity for Charlottesville.
From Indivisible’s Guide:
This weekend, hate groups and domestic terrorists of all stripes went to Charlottesville, VA to push their hateful message of white supremacy, fascism, anti-Semitism, and bigotry.
When they got there they waged violence on unarmed anti-racists, killing one and injuring many others. We mourn for the life that was lost, and we will honor all those under attack by congregating against hate in our own communities.
Tonight and tomorrow, Indivisible groups, along with our friends at Democratic Socialists of America, Women’s March, Democracy for America, Working Families Party, Resist Here, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Mi Familia Vota, OurRevolution, Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, People's Action, Courage Campaign, Greenpeace, #AllOfUs, #Resist, 350.org, OFA, United We Dream, Win Without War, Voto Latino, MoveOn.org, Sierra Club, Pantsuit Nation, Town Hall Project, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, iAmerica, National Immigration Law Center, #MarchForTruth, Color of Change, UltraViolet, IfNotNow, People Power, Faith in Public Life, CREDO, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Bend the Arc Jewish Action, Brand New Congress, South Asian Americans Leading Together, NARAL Pro-Choice America, RootsAction, SEIU, Hip Hop Caucus, CODEPINK, Peoples Climate Movement, T’ruah, Public Citizen, Daily Kos, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, CPD Action, Stand Up America, American Federation of Teachers, Emerge America, Jewish Voice for Peace, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Moms Rising, RISE Stronger, Democracy Spring, FIRM, Demos, Sunrise Movement, Spread The Vote, Stand.earth, Our Climate, People for the American Way, Food & Water Watch, NextGen America, Fast Food Justice, Action Together Network, Jews United for Justice, New Leaders Council, Run for Something, Corporate Accountability International, Moms Demand Action, Beyond the Choir, Friends of the Earth, Jobs with Justice, League of Conservation Voters, Truman National Security Project, Progressive Democrats of America, Natural Resources Defense Council, People for Bernie, Common Defense, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, #VOTEPROCHOICE, Emily's List, Sister District, American Association of University Professors, Network NOVA, Climatetruth.org, National Education Association, National LGBTQ Task Force, Quaker Voluntary Service, Toxics Action Center, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, and others will come together in solidarity with our brave friends in Charlottesville who put themselves at risk to fight against white supremacy.
Plan an event in your community to show that you’re standing with Charlottesville.
Click here to search for events in your area.
Did you see that? Daily Kos is on that list.
We need to stop beating up the progressive left here at the Daily Kos. We do not have time to waste with the Man in the High Castle. And let’s retire “Alt-Left”, at least in the sense of our community because Trump has now smeared Heather Heyer, the woman murdered at Charlottesville, and the others killed trying help the victims of hate.
I’m with Bernie & Jane Sanders...and Indivisible.
Update: Senator Jeff Merkley just retweeted this beautiful scene in Portland courtesy of Indivisible Oregon: