Political leaders are reacting to the President Donald Trump blaming "both sides" for the violence in Charlottesville.
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Trump insisted Tuesday "there is blame on both sides" for the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Va., appearing to once again equate the actions of white supremacist groups and those protesting them.
During an impromptu press conference in the lobby of his Manhattan skyscraper, he praised his original response to Charlottesville and angrily blamed liberal groups in addition to white supremacist for the violence. Some of those protesting the rally to save a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee were "also very violent," he said.
Tweets from lawmakers came pouring in overnight after the president made those statements.
The Vice Mayor of Charlottesville Dr. Wes Bellamy for one was very outspoken on Twitter.
3 people lost their lives and the person in the highest office in the Land threw a temper tantrum & played the Blame game like a 10 year old
— Dr. Wes Bellamy (@DrWesBellamy) August 16, 2017
Some say by blaming both sides, Trump is taking sides. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said on Twitter.
President @realDonaldTrump, standing in a city built by people of every race, creed and faith, just defended white supremacists.
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) August 15, 2017
Even Republicans were very vocal on this one. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan weighed in on the president's most recent statement.
We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 15, 2017
Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio posted a series of tweets condemning President Trump's remarks.
Good time to re-up https://t.co/RZ24UhKtDw
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 15, 2017
Other local leaders like U.S. Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy chimed in.
Deeply disturbed by POTUS's comments. Leaders set the tone. We must be unequivocal against racism, xenophobia & antisemitism.
— Rep Stephanie Murphy (@RepStephMurphy) August 16, 2017
Violence broke out Saturday in Charlottesville, a picturesque college town, after a loosely connected mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists assembled for the largest gathering of its kind in a decade. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a man plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters.