people who are fighting for a white america, an america without black people, people of color, or jews or anyone who doesn t look like them because donald trump knows those people vote for him. he knows those people believe that he is fighting for what they are fighting for. but over the weekend, the pressure mounted, especially from republican members of congress like 83-year-old republican senator orrin hatch, who tweeted, we should call evil by its name. my brother didn t give his life fighting hitler for nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home. so today the president read a statement written for him, read it word for word. he did not dare take any questions about that written statement. he just kept his eyes locked on a teleprompter, reading the words that his political advisers said he should say today. racism is evil, and those who
promises of donald trump. that s what we believed in. that s why we voted for donald trump. mr. trump chose not to condition deem them. many elected republicans seem to agree the president did not go far enough. colorado senator cory gardner who is in charge of getting senate republicans elected in 2018 tweeted mr. president, we must call evil by its name. these were white supremacists, and this was domestic terrorism. florida s marco rubio, quote, very important for the nation to hear potus describe events in charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by white supremacists. utah senator orrin hatch tweeted my brother didn t give his life fighting hitler for nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home. and texas senator ted cruz, quote, the nazis, the kkk, and white supremacists are repulsive and evil, and all of us have a moral obligation to speak out. and joining me now is the mayor of charlottesville, michael s signer.
supremacists. he offered rebuke to those involved, suggesting both sides share culpability. we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides. on many sides. it s been going on for a long time in our country. not donald trump, not barack obama. it s been going on for a long, long time. reporter: the president s muted response drew criticism. orrin hatch tweeted we should call evil by its name. my brother didn t give his life fighting hitler for nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home. and cory gardner told jake tapper in on cnn state of the union. this isn t a time for vague re, for innuendo or room to read between the lines, this is the
president calling for national some are concerned others didn t including on hatch, we should call evil by its name. my brother didn t give his life fighting hitler was it a mistake for the president to not be more clear? i think the president yesterday spoke into a national moment in words that the american people needed to hear. that we condemn acts of violence, acts of hatred. reporter: name the sides. what are the sides? as i said yesterday, we condemn in the strongest terms the hate and violence advocated by groups like white supremacists and neo nazis that in their ilk. reporter: what s the other side? as you look throughout the course of recent years we ve seen protester violence.
he missed an opportunity to be very explicit here. these groups seem to believe they have a friend in donald trump and the white house. i don t know why they believe that, they don t see me as a friend in the senate. i would urge the president to dissuade these groups that he s their friends. lindsay is getting better every day. orrin hatch, the senator from utah. my brother didn t give his life fighting hitler for nazi ideas to come here at home. good for him to bring it up again today. it s important for the country to hear the president describe the events in charlottesville for what they are. a terror attack by white supremacists. i did raise the ugly question. let them speak. there are people out there, the guys with the crosses and everything. we ll find out, whether this was good for the white supremacists, who knows. the stormer got a lot of