WATCH: @JohnKasich starts off our interview saying, “Pathetic, isn’t it? Just pathetic listening to this.” #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/1tBuSCmHxJ
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 16, 2017
John Kasich has rarely minced words on the matter of Donald Trump, but he was especially firm on The Today Show while discussing the president’s controversial responses to the violence that broke out Charlottesville, Virginia. In particular, Kasich took umbrage with President Trump’s attempts to draw parallels between the Nazis, white supremacists, and neo-Confederates who organized and attended the Unite the Right rally, and the Antifa and anti-racist protesters who opposed them.
There is “no moral equivalency between neo-Nazis and the KKK and ‘anybody else’” explained Kasich. That was his answer to Trump’s assertion that “both sides” participated in the violence in Charlottesville, despite the fact that Heather Heyer was killed and many more were injured when a Unite the Right attendee deliberately drove his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of protestors. “This is terrible. The President of the United States needs to condemn these kinds of hate groups,” he continued. “The president has to totally condemn this. It’s not about winning an argument.”
Trump waited for three days after the Charlottesville demonstration and car attack to respond in person. Prior to that, he and First Lady Melania Trump each issued a tweet calling for unity and peace. When Trump did hold a press conference, the timing and his remarks — read off a teleprompter — suggested he was bending to political pressure, rather than speaking from the heart. Many also said his remarks didn’t go far enough to condemn white supremacy and racism, or even seemed to tacitly support those views. One White House official even claimed Trump went rogue.
Kasich isn’t the only person to criticize Trump’s rhetoric, of course. Several politicians and public figures — Democrats and Republicans alike — have given their reviews and called for stronger action. Kasich distilled his thoughts down to a single adjective. “Pathetic,” he said. “Just pathetic, isn’t it?”
(Via: Today)