Minnesota officials — both Democrats and Republicans — have spoken out in recent days on the deadly protests in Charlottesville, Va., and President Donald Trump’s public reactions…
Minnesota officials — both Democrats and Republicans — have spoken out in recent days on the deadly protests in Charlottesville, Va., and President Donald Trump’s public reactions.
White supremacists converged on Virginia this past weekend, attracting counterprotests. An Ohio man, who reportely rallied with the original group of white supremacists, is accused of driving a car through a counterprotest, killing one counterprotester and injuring several others.
Trump has been criticized for his lack of clear condemnation of the motivation of those who carried torches and guns in the Virginia city and chanted against Jews and people of color. He blamed “both sides” for the violence.
“You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides, ” Trump said Tuesday in a news conference. Since then, two of his CEO advisory groups disbanded after mass resignations and the president has tweeted that he is sad to see the “ history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments, ” in a reference to Confederate statues.
Here is what Minnesota’s leaders have said:
Even before the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer and the arrest of James Alex Fields for driving his car into a crowd, Republican U. S. Rep. Jason Lewis of Minnesota’s suburban 2nd District, used social media to condemn hate and racism.
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More business leaders quit Trump panel Many quickly sent out messages Saturday night, after Trump condemned the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.” At the same time, the president’s inclusion of “many sides” was applauded by those who sympathize with white nationalists.
U. S. Rep. Rick Nolan, a Democrat representing northern Minnesota, U. S. Rep. Tim Walz, a Democrat who represents southern Minnesota, U. S. Rep. Tom Emmer, a Republican from the suburban and rural 6th Congressional District, and Democratic U. S. Rep. Betty McCollum, who represents St. Paul, used Twitter to speak out:
Republican and Democratic members of the Minnesota Legislature also sounded off:
U. S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who tweeted support for the Charlottesville mayor who called the white supremacists a “cowardly parade of hatred” before the Heyer’s death, said Sunday morning on Facebook:
“There are no sides to this. There is only truth. And the truth is that when racism and violence win, we all lose. Our nation loses. So let us stand together, defending our own rights and those of our fellow citizens. Let us seek not just common ground, but higher ground. Americans have stood together shoulder to shoulder for justice before and won, many times over. Our country is the stronger for it.”
As Monday dawned, with criticism mounting on what’s been called the president’s “both sides-ism”, more voices were raised. Democratic U. S. Rep. Collin Peterson, who represents a district Trump overwhelmingly won in November, felt the need to issue a statement.
“Hatred and bigotry associated with the white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK has no place in our society. The tragedy in Charlottesville is another example of the struggles our country faces to unite and confront hate, ” Peterson, who does not often send out statements, said Monday afternoon.
Minnesota Senate Leader Paul Gazelka, a Republican from near Nisswa, also tweeted that “acts of violence have no place here” early Monday morning.
Later that day, the president made a stronger statement condemning “K. K. K., neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
Both Democratic U. S. Sen. Al Franken and U. S. Rep. Keith Ellison, of Minneapolis, had long used their media and social platforms to share their dismay at the events and at the president.
But Tuesday, the president returned to his claim that those who support white supremacists and those who oppose them are similar and called some of those who joined in the chanting “blood and soil” were “fine people.”
Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen, who represents a district Democrat Hillary Clinton won in November, added his thoughts in reaction Tuesday evening:
Trump’s unscripted remarks on Tuesday brought further — and more strenuous — reaction.
The president of 3M, one of Minnesota’s largest employers, announced he was withdrawing from the president’s manufacturing council. Before Wednesday CEO Inge Thulin had been silent in the face of other resignations from Trump’s business advisory panels.
Former U. S. Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican who represented Minnesota and is the former mayor of St. Paul, also co-released a statement from the Republican Jewish Coalition with RJC executive director Matt Brooks. Coleman is the RJC’s national chairman.
“There are no good Nazis and no good members of the Klan, ” said their statement Wednesday afternoon. “We join with our political and religious brethren calling upon President Trump to provide greater moral clarity in rejecting racism, bigotry and antisemitism.”
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton in a statement Wednesday said: “There is no place in our country for this rabid bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and hatred. Those who perpetrate it should be held strictly accountable for the consequences of their vile behavior.”
The Democratic governor had not released a statement before that.
