House Speaker Paul Ryan criticized President Donald Trump’s remarks regarding the violent protests in Charlottesville, Va. this month during a town hall Monday.
Aug. 22 (UPI) — House Speaker Paul Ryan criticized President Donald Trump ‘s remarks regarding the violent protests in Charlottesville, Va. this month during a CNN town hall in Racine, Wis. Monday.
In response to a questioner who asked if Ryan would « forcefully condemn » Trump’s statements after Charlottesville, in which the president was widely criticized for saying « many sides » were to blame for the violence, the House Speaker said he spoke to the president about « the need for moral clarity » and the need to « singularly condemn this repulsive bigotry. »
Ryan said he believed Trump did just that in his first remarks about the protests were « pitch perfect. »
But when Trump held a press conference in New York City on infrastructure, Ryan said those remarks were « morally ambiguous » and didn’t do enough to condemn racism and bigotry.
« I do think he could have done better. He needed to do better. I do believe that he messed up in his comments on Tuesday when it sounded like a moral equivocation, or at the very least, moral ambiguity when we need extreme moral clarity, » Ryan said.
« It was not only morally ambiguous; it was equivocating, » he added.
During that press conference on Aug. 15, Trump appeared to double down on counter-protesters, despite one of them getting allegedly murdered by a white supremacist.
« You had a group on one side that was mad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, » Trump told reporters. « Nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say that. … You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent. »
During the town hall, Ryan said more needs to be done to address racism in the United States.
« It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or Democrat… Every single one of us needs to unify against this repugnant vile bigotry, » Ryan said. « We all have to stand up and speak out against this kind of bigotry. »
