Members of Congress are publicly calling out Trump, as his own party is distancing themselves from the President, which suggests that his sinking approval ratings could drop even lower.
Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) tweeted:
.@POTUS, America's children are watching. Denounce white nationalists & their evil ideology. They are enemies of liberty & our Constitution.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) August 13, 2017
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Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) had strong words for Trump on CNN’s State Of The Union:
Transcript via CNN:
GARDNER: I think the president needs to step up today and say what it is. And call it for what it is.
It’s evil. It’s white nationalism. It’s bigotry and it’s unacceptable.
And if he doesn’t do that then we can continue to answer the question of why. But I believe he has a chance to do that today.
Ivanka called this white nationalism. She called it out today. The president needs to do so, as well.
…..
GARDNER: This president has done so when people have driven trucks through crowds in Europe. He’s called it radical Islamic terrorism. He should use this opportunity today to say this is terrorism, this is domestic terrorism, this is white nationalism and it has to stop.
And I encourage the president to do so. He has a chance to do that. The healing power of the White House, the ability to lead — the president of the United States. It needs to be seen today. Yes, he condemned bigotry and hatred. But we need to name evil and call evil and name it. In this case, it is clearly bigotry, hatred, racism and the white nationalists who led to death and murder in Charlottesville.
Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News Sunday, “But when it comes to President Trump, I’m with Cory Gardner. He missed an opportunity to be very explicit here. These groups seem to believe they have a friend in Donald Trump in the White House. I don’t know why they believe that, but they don’t see me as a friend in the Senate, and I would urge the president to dissuade these groups that he’s their friend.”
The common theme in the comments from all of these Republicans is that for the first time since he took office, Republicans are telling Trump to do something. If Trump holds his press conference on Monday and doesn’t issue a stronger statement, Republicans are going to bail on him.
The President is already unpopular and sinking like a rock, so if any remaining segment of the GOP turns on him, his approval rating could plunge from the mid to low 30s to the upper 20s. It looks like Republicans have finally found an issue that they will finally stand up to Trump on.
Trump’s cuddle with neo-Nazis is too much for even Republicans to handle.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
