Illinois Lawmakers Blast Trump's 'Racist, Rambling' Double Down On 'Both Sides' Defense
By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 15, 2017 11:20PM
Getty Images / Photo: Pool
Updated 6:25 p.m.: Mayor Rahm Emanuel has also released a statement condemning Trump's Tuesday afternoon comments, suggesting his statements put him on the wrong side of history:
“For the second time in three days, this president equated neo-Nazis, white supremacists and bigots with those who courageously stood up to confront their hate and give voice to our shared values. I can’t help but take this personally, and not just because I’ve had the privilege of serving two presidents and am a believer in the power and awesome responsibility of the office. I found my political awakening in 1978, protesting neo-Nazis who assembled in Marquette Park after their first attempt to intimidate the Jewish community in Skokie was rebuffed. We were outnumbered and didn’t have a permit that day, either, but at least we knew we were on the right side of justice - and history. Nor were we concerned that in the aftermath, political leaders might equate our stance against hate with those who peddled it. Simply put, today’s performance was unworthy of the office and its moral authority. As Maya Angelou cautioned: ‘when someone shows you who they are, believe them.’”
President Donald Trump's statements on Tuesday about the tragedy in Charlottesville prompted a renewed wave of outrage as he reverted again to blaming "both sides" and suggested counter-demonstrators deserved blame for the weekend's violence along with white supremacists. Plenty of the condemnation again came from Democratic lawmakers and politicians from Illinois.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky was full-throated in her denunciation of Trump's press conference, which she blasted as "racist" and "rambling."
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/OC7Tcn9H7x
— Jan Schakowsky (@janschakowsky) August 15, 2017
Sen. Dick Durbin shared on Twitter an ABC News clip in which Trump said, "There's blame on both sides...you also had people that were very fine people on both sides." The senator countered: "There is only one side that brought brutality, nazi flags, and swastikas to Charlottesville."
There is only one side that brought brutality, nazi flags, and swastikas to Charlottesville. https://t.co/Zh2M0uKt29
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) August 15, 2017
Rep. Cheri Bustos said Trump's comments on Tuesday were "deeply offensive." His remarks "legitimize the violence, bigotry and terror" of the Charlottesville attack, she said.
.@POTUS comments today are deeply offensive and they legitimize the violence, bigotry & terror we saw this past weekend in #Charlottesville.
— Rep. Cheri Bustos (@RepCheri) August 15, 2017
The neo-Nazis, white supremacists and the KKK in #Charlottesville do NOT represent who we are as Americans. We cannot enable that violence.
— Rep. Cheri Bustos (@RepCheri) August 15, 2017
All of us have an obligation to unequivocally denounce this kind of hatred, especially @realDonaldTrump. #Charlottesville.
— Rep. Cheri Bustos (@RepCheri) August 15, 2017
Rep Raja Krishnamoorthi sent out on Twitter a series of images, including one of a marching Dr. Martin Luther King and Allied soldiers storming the beaches in World War II, with the hashtag #VeryFinePeople, in defiant reference to Trump's equivocating quote.
And Democratic gubernatorial hopeful JB Pritzker called Trump an "unhinged disgrace to the presidency" who "openly sympathized with Nazis on national television." His full statement is below:
If Illinois is any indication, Trump's comments won't be getting let off the hook by the opposition any time soon.