In the midst of this weekend’s tension-filled events in Charlottesville, Virginia — a Friday night Nazi/white supremacist march at the University of Virginia and a Saturday afternoon violent attack on counterprotesters — President Trump came under fire. Both Republicans and Democrats (and others) alike criticized how he chose to blame the violence upon “many sides” while dodging the Nazi/white supremacist labels. This was an especially sketchy move while former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke was declaring that the Charlottesville rally was about “fulfilling promises of Donald Trump.”
Awkward. Yet surprisingly, one notable person, who Trump cannot ignore, has chosen not to adopt the “many sides” perspective — the president’s daughter, Ivanka. Early on Sunday morning (just like dad!), Ivanka began to tweet. She first declared, “There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis.”
She then insisted, “We must all come together as Americans — and be one country UNITED. #Charlottesville.”
Recently, Ivanka has been roasted for claiming to disagree with her father when she really doesn’t stand up to him, particularly on subjects like women’s reproductive health and LGBT rights. Although she acts as the president’s surrogate during important meetings (including some at the G20 summit), Ivanka was rumored to have given up on influencing her father. Has this changed with the Charlottesville violence? We may soon find out.
In very related news, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) jumped on the anti-Nazi/white supremacist bandwagon late Saturday night, long after his fellow legislators had spoken out. Cruz declared, “The Nazis, the KKK, and white supremacists are repulsive and evil, and all of us have a moral obligation to speak out against the lies, bigotry, ant-semitism [sic], and hatred that they propagate.”
President Trump hasn’t yet issued another statement since his “many sides” remark, nor has he tweeted this morning.