Vice President Mike Pence is defending President Trump after Paul Ryan criticized his “messed up” remarks on Charlottesville that blamed “both sides” for the violence that claimed three lives. On Tuesday’s Fox & Friends, the VP stuck up for Trump by calling for unity and insisting that the American people paid attention when Trump finally denounced extremist groups.
“The president was clear in the aftermath of the tragedy in Charlottesville, that we denounce bigotry and hate and violence in all of its forms,” Pence told host Ainsley Earhardt. “I think the American people heard him. They heard his heart.” She asked him specifically about Paul Ryan’s remarks at a town hall, in which the House Speaker said he felt that Trump drew a moral equivalency between white supremacists and the protesters opposing them in Charlottesville. Pence continued:
“I think at the end of the day — now that that’s been said and the people know where the president and I and all of us stand in this administration — now the American people want us all to move forward in ways that will bring this country back together. I can’t help but believe as the President himself has said that as the country becomes more prosperous, as our streets become safer, we are going to enjoy greater unity in this country. I know it’s the President’s heart desire to see the American people to come together, to be unified. As we see the progress that we’re making in restoring law and order to our streets, as we see the progress we’re making in more than a million jobs created, I think we’re going to continue seeing that unity and that strength across this nation.”
Pence is clearly determined to stick to the President’s emphasis on unity after Charlottesville. This move is seeing pushback from people, conservative and liberal, who point out that they have zero interest in unifying with Nazis.
No unity w/Trump, Nazis, Klansmen, @neeratanden, @JoyReid or any of the other Wall Street Hillbama goons. They all tell lies & preach hate.
— ☮️dkmich xx 💙 (@dkmich) August 13, 2017
Why can't the Left just unify with Americans who hate Nazism? Instead, they promote Antifa and label everyone on the right a Nazi ally.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 20, 2017
Why won't certain politicians understand…that I don't…want to unify…with nazis?!?!
— Cassiopeia (@Cassiopaeia20) August 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/szeyian/status/899801163255627776
As for the public safety angle, crowds of torch-wielding Nazis aren’t exactly synonymous with safer streets. It may be a long wait for the unity Pence and Trump are touting when even the Republican party is digging into the President for going soft on white supremacy.