Yes, I know it's been covered ad nauseam on the internet and elsewhere, but this cannot be repeated enough. In Donald Trump's return to his own original script two days ago, in which he condemned the "alt-left" equally with the "alt-right" for the riots, injuries and deaths in Charlottesville this last week, he ... well, he lied.
Trump claims that the anti-white supremacist protestors came with their own violent agenda, that he watched the footage from the day ("very closely, much more closely than you people watched it"), and that "they came charging, with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs".
But, in fact, as eye witnesses confirm, the clubs (and the lit torches and the fists and the pepper spray and the lighter fluid) were being swung by the chanting neo-Nazis. The counter-protestors were almost completely peaceful and defensive in their actions, the only possible exception being a few desperate protestors who were hemmed in around the statue who used fists and pepper spray (sorry, no clubs) in their attempt to escape the melée.
I hate to give Trump more coverage than he deserves, but this needs to be made very clear. The man is shamelessly lying in his attempts to protect the fascists (and, make no mistake, these people are not "alt-right", they are neo-Nazis, white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan adherents), and he needs to be called out on it, and indeed he has been by both the right and the left.
Incidentally, if you missed it, check out the impressive eulogy made by the mother of slain protester Heather Heyer. Then compare it with Trump's rant.
No comments:
Post a Comment