Trott, Dingell Criticize Trump Over Charlottesville

TROY, MI — President Donald Trump’s waffling on condemnation over the clash in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend has drawn the ire of several Michigan politicians. After laying blame squarely on groups comprising the so-called “alt-right” over the weekend, Trump on Monday went back to his initial stance of also blaming anti-protestors.

He made the remarks at Trump Tower in an impromptu press conference. The president said both sides were to blame and also chastised anti-protestors for toppling monuments of Confederate Army figures like General Robert E. Lee and others in southern states. Trump wondered aloud whether those actions would spread to other American historical figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, saying “where does it stop?”

U.S. Rep. Dave Trott, a Troy Republican, said Trump should stop. “I think America needs more unity and less divisiveness...meaning @realDonaldTrump should focus more on golf & have less press conferences,” he wrote in a Twitter post on Wednesday.

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Others were more direct in their comments.

“You cannot defend any member of the KKK, neo-Nazis, or white supremacists,” U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Dearborn Democrat, wrote on Twitter Tuesday. “They are pure evil, & anyone who fails to denounce it enables it.”

U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, a Republican who represents much of Macomb County, agreed with Dingell and said so on Twitter, too. He rebuked some of Trump’s press conference language.

“You can't be a "very fine person" and be a white supremacist @POTUS,” Mitchell wrote on Twitter.

Republican colleague Fred Upton echoed Mitchell’s thoughts, according to Detroit Free Press report. The St. Joseph U.S. Representative said there are no “fine” white supremacists.”

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