(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump denounced neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan as criminals and thugs on Monday, bowing to mounting political pressure to condemn such groups explicitly after a white-nationalist rally turned deadly in Virginia.
Trump had been assailed from across the political spectrum for failing to respond more forcefully to the violence. The head of one of the world’s biggest drug companies quit a presidential business panel as a result, saying he was taking a stand against intolerance and extremism.
Critics slammed Trump for waiting too long to address Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville and for initially saying that “many sides” were involved, instead of singling out the white supremacists widely seen as sparking the melee. Several senators from his own Republican party had harsh words for him.
Some 48 hours into the biggest domestic challenge of his young presidency, Trump tried to correct course.
“Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” the president said in a statement to reporters at the White House on Monday.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence,” he said.
A 20-year-old man said to have harbored Nazi sympathies as a teenager was facing charges he plowed his car into protesters opposing the white nationalists, killing one woman, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, and injuring 19 people. The accused, James Fields, was denied bail at a court hearing on Monday.
Trump said anyone who engaged in criminal behavior at the rally would be held accountable. “Justice will be delivered,” the Republican president said.
