Those who’ve followed The Minuteman for a while know that I’m not a Trumpster. In fact, I’ve been very critical of Donald Trump at times. Especially during his run to the presidency. But I’ll give credit when credit is due, and today I’m going to give the President of these not-so-United States his due. Yes, I’m going to defend him.
When it comes to President Trump’s response to the horrific events in Charlottesville on Saturday, he is spot on. And the ensuing criticism of him is a pathetic display of political garbage that is completely unwarranted and absent of logic.
So, let’s take a look at what President Trump said. Here we have his first Tweet:
The President’s message is clear… to anyone that can read. His statement is a call of unity for “ALL” and a condemnation of “all [those] that hate”. And that condemnation would obviously include the KKK, White Supremacists, and Nazi’s.
Later on Saturday, the President was scheduled to sign the Veterans Affairs Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 in Bedminster, NJ. But considering the circumstances of the tragedy that occurred earlier in the day in Charlottesville, Trump decided to make a statement about it. Here’s the entirety of it with highlights of key points made by the President:
“Thank you very much. As you know, this was a small press conference, but a very important one. And it was scheduled to talk about the great things that we’re doing with the secretary on the veterans administration. And we will talk about that very much so in a little while. But I thought I should put out a comment as to what’s going on in Charlottesville. So, again, I want to thank everybody for being here, in particular I want to thank our incredible veterans. And thank you, fellas. Let me shake your hand.
“They’re great people. Great people. But we’re closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia. 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, this has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America. What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives. No citizen should ever fear for their safety and security in our society. And no child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time.
“I just got off the phone with the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, and we agree that the hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now. We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true affection– really, I say this so strongly, true affection for each other. Our country is doing very well in so many ways. We have record — just absolute record employment. We have unemployment the lowest it’s been in almost 17 years. We have companies pouring into our country, Foxconn and car companies and so many others. They’re coming back to our country. We’re renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country and great for the American worker.
“We have so many incredible things happening in our country, so when I watch Charlottesville, to me it’s very, very sad. I want to salute the great work of the state and local police in Virginia. Incredible people. Law enforcement, incredible people. And also the National Guard. They’ve really been working smart and working hard. They’ve been doing a terrific job. Federal authorities are also providing tremendous support to the governor. He thanked me for that. And we are here to provide whatever other assistance is needed. We are ready, willing and able. Above all else, we must remember this truth: No matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are all Americans first. We love our country. We love our God.
“We love our flag. We’re proud of our country. We’re proud of who we are, so we want to get the situation straightened out in Charlottesville, and we want to study it. And we want to see what we’re doing wrong as a country where things like this can happen. My administration is restoring the sacred bonds of loyalty between this nation and its citizens, but our citizens must also restore the bonds of trust and loyalty between one another. We must love each other, respect each other and cherish our history and our future together. So important. We have to respect each other. Ideally, we have to love each other.”
Between the aforementioned Tweet and his statement condemning “violence on many sides”, people across the nation went into a tizzy. And unnecessarily so. It appears the President understands a simple truth that too many others do not– hate is to be condemned, regardless of where it comes from. And in this case, it was – without question – “on many sides”.
Sadly enough, North Dakota’s own U.S. Senators couldn’t help but jump on the Bash Wagon as it went by. The endangered liberal Democrat Heidi Heitkamp criticized the President’s response as “woefully inadequate”. Her liberal RINO friend John Hoeven joined in by saying that Trump should have been “very clear that we need to condemn any kind of white supremacy, Neo-Nazi group”.
With their statements, Heitkamp and Hoeven only proved they’re more interested in political gamesmanship than anything else.
You see, what Donald Trump said took courage. Why? Because he’s not going to give any group involved in hatred a pass. And quite frankly, the easy road is to single out the KKK, White Supremacists, and Nazi’s. Anybody can do that and most of us do. But to condemn other hate groups as well– well, that’s not always popular. Far too often they’re excused and given a pass.
To conclude, perhaps it’s worthwhile for us to list the important points made by President Trump:
1. “We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for.”
2. “There is no place for this kind of violence in America.”
3. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” 4. “No citizen should ever fear for their safety and security in our society.”
5. “…the hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now.”
6. “We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true affection– really, I say this so strongly, true affection for each other.” 7. “…when I watch Charlottesville, to me it’s very, very sad.”
8. “Above all else, we must remember this truth: No matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are all Americans first. We love our country. We love our God.” 9. “…our citizens must also restore the bonds of trust and loyalty between one another.”
10. “We must love each other, respect each other and cherish our history and our future together.”
11. “We have to respect each other. Ideally, we have to love each other.”
Now, ask yourself what rational person would have a problem with what the President said? No, the critics can’t see it for what it really is– a condemnation of all hate and a call for unity. Maybe – just maybe – they can’t get over their own hate… for the President of the United States.
Sources:
1. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/aug/14/context-president-donald-trumps-saturday-statement/ 2. http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/north-dakota-minnesota-politicians-criticize-trump-s-woefully-inadequate-charlottesville/article_53e64a95-6702-5d7c-b469-949fdd6bb11b.html 3. http://www.valleynewslive.com/content/news/Sen-Hoeven-criticizes-President-Trumps-reaction-to-violence-in-Charlottesville-Va-440445703.html 4. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/15/trump-not-all-of-those-people-at-virginia-rally-were-white-supremacists.html?_source=facebook
