John Nichols: GOP positions on the wrong side of history
In the summer of 2017, neo-Confederates and their neo-Nazi allies stormed into Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest against the removal of a statue of the Civil War commander of the southern forces that fought to maintain slavery, Robert E. Lee. They were confronted by foes of white supremacy. Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old woman from Charlottesville who was standing up for racial justice, was killed by a white supremacist who had come to Charlottesville to defend the Lee statue.
Trump responded to what happened in Charlottesville by telling a press conference that theres blame on both sides and by claiming that you also had people that were very fine people on both sides of the debate about removing the Lee statue.
Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who then served as the speaker of the House, said the president messed up. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, was blunter.
The president's comments and actions so far, Pocan said, have allowed people who used to wear sheets over their heads to take them off and now go into the streets and start riots.
Read more: https://madison.com/ct/opinion/column/john_nichols/john-nichols-gop-positions-on-the-wrong-side-of-history/article_0ac29e07-a11b-5d4a-8afc-785a103148dc.html