GOP Senator Lights Up Trump For Emboldening Violent White Supremacists And Dividing America

A Republican senator had some tough words for Donald Trump on Friday, slamming the president in a lengthy Facebook post and predicting that more violence will come as white supremacist groups become increasingly emboldened in the age of the Trump presidency.

In the post, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said that Trump doesn’t have the “ability and temperament” to bring the country together as racial hate and terrorism ramps up across America.

The senator’s post:

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When the violence Sasse predicts does end up hitting another public event, like the one last weekend in Charlottesville, the Republican senator says he has “doubt” that Trump will respond appropriately.

“What will happen next? I doubt that Donald Trump will be able to calm and comfort the nation in that moment. He (and lots of others) will probably tell an awful combination of partial truths and outright falsehoods,” Sasse said. “On top of the trust deficits that are already baked so deeply in, unity will be very hard to come by.”

Sasse’s comments come as another right-wing rally is set for today in Boston, where thousands of demonstrators are expected to descend on the city. Counter-protesters are expected to march as well.

While those who have organized the “Free Speech Rally” in Boston have distanced themselves from the types of hate groups seen in Charlottesville, CBS News noted on Saturday that “opponents feared that white nationalists might show up in Boston anyway, raising the specter of ugly confrontations in the first potentially large and racially charged gathering in a major U.S. city since Charlottesville.”

If, as Sen. Sasse said, another Charlottesville-type incident does play out in another American city, Donald Trump won’t just be unequipped to handle it or calm the waters, but he will be at least partially responsible for causing it.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.