President Donald Trump's "all sides" comment on the violent events that unfolded in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend will make matters harder for his relationship in the Republican Party and Congress moving forward, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., predicted Monday.
"Presidents have rare moments where they get to speak, not just to our nation but to the world," the Delaware lawmaker told MSNBC"s "Morning Joe." "President Donald Trump has been in the middle of two unfolding crises, and in one he's been too belligerent and ahead of his team, and in the other, he's failed to step up and speak in a moral and a positive way about how we confront the evil that is white nationalism."
Trump has "repeatedly overperformed" while confronting North Korea's expanding, aggressive nuclear program, Coons said, but "failed to step up to the plate" while making it clear all Americans "stand united in opposing neo-Naziism and white supremacy."
Several other Republicans and elected leaders have given "sharp, clear denunciations" to the weekend violence, which resulted in the death of Heather Heyer, 32, who was killed after she was hit by a car that plowed into a crowd of counter protesters, Coons noted.
"It is disappointing the president continues to step backward at moments when he really should step forward," Coons said.
He also said it is getting harder for Trump's colleagues, "and certainly those I serve with in the Senate," to openly support Trump as a result, especially when he does not meet the same levels of engagement they do on "vital moral challenges" likes standing up to neo-Nazis.
"I'll remind you that Orrin Hatch, the most senior Republican senator, gave one of the clearest statements over the weekend, reminding all of us that Greatest Generation, when he said that his older brother didn't die fighting Naziism in Europe simply to have that ideology tolerated here at home," Coons said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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