Skip to main content

Just the Facts: The Comprehensive List of the Trump Admin's Response to Charlottesville

Share This article

WASHINGTON – The criticism over President Donald Trump's original response to the violent weekend in Charlottesville, VA has been fast and furious. 

The president addressed the situation again Monday after meeting with FBI Director Chris Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. 

"The Department of Justice has just issued a civil rights investigation into the deadly car attack that killed one innocent American and wounded twenty others," Trump began. 

"To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend's racist violence, you will be held accountable. Justice will be delivered.

"As I have said many times before, no matter the color of our skin, we all live under the same laws, we all salute the same great flag and we are all made by the same Almighty God.

"Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups," he continued. 

So what did the president say the first time? 
And what was the reaction from the rest of the Trump Administration?

Here is the rundown. 

President Trump: 

"But we're closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Va.. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It's been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America. What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives. No citizen should ever fear for their safety and security in our society. And no child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time.

"I just got off the phone with the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, and we agree that the hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now. We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true -- really, I say this so strongly, true affection for each other. Our country is doing very well in so many ways. We have record, just absolute record, employment. We have unemployment the lowest it's been in almost 17 years. We have companies pouring into our country, Foxconn and car companies and so many others. They're coming back to our country. We're renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country and great for the American worker. We have so many incredible things happening in our country, so when I watch Charlottesville, to me it's very, very sad.

"I want to salute the great work of the state and local police in Virginia. Incredible people, law enforcement, incredible people. And also the National Guard. They've really been working smart and working hard. They've been doing a terrific job. Federal authorities are also providing tremendous support to the governor; he thanked me for that. And we are here to provide whatever other assistance is needed. We are ready, willing and able.

"Above all else, we must remember this truth, no matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are all Americans first. We love our country. We love our God. We love our flag. We're proud of our country. We're proud of who we are. So, we want to get the situation straightened out in Charlottesville, and we want to study it. And we want to see what we're doing wrong as a country where things like this can happen. My administration is restoring the sacred bonds of loyalty between this nation and its citizens, but our citizens must also restore the bonds of trust and loyalty between one another. We must love each other, respect each other and cherish our history and our future together. So important. We have to respect each other. Ideally we have to love each other."

Vice-President Pence: 

"With regard to yesterday, what happened in Charlottesville was a tragedy.  Charlottesville, Virginia is a beautiful community, a university town with a rich heritage.  President Santos's son just graduated from the University of Virginia, and the President himself spoke on that campus. 
 
"And what occurred there, as local and state officials have said, is in no way a reflection of the good and decent people of Charlottesville or of America.
 
"Of what happened there -- yesterday, President Trump clearly and unambiguously condemned the bigotry, violence, and hatred which took place on the streets of Charlottesville.
 
"Our hearts go out to the victims of violence that ensued; the family of the young woman who lost her life; of the families of the two police officers who fell in the line of duty, and all of those that are injured.
 
"We have no tolerance for hate and violence, from white supremacists, neo-Nazis, or the KKK.  These dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life and in the American debate, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms.  
 
"The President also made clear that behavior by others of different militant perspectives are also unacceptable in our political debate and discourse.  Our administration is bringing the full resources of the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the violence that ensued yesterday in Charlottesville.  And we will hold them to account, under the law.  
 
"The President's call for unity yesterday, though, was from the heart.  It was a sincere call, in these too divided times in our country, for those on the extremes to be dismissed, and for the vast majority of Americans who cherish freedom, who cherish justice for all, to come together in new and in renewed ways.
 
"I will say I take issue with the fact that many in the national media spent more time criticizing the President's words than they did criticizing those who perpetrated the violence to begin with.  
 
"We should be putting the attention where it belongs, and that is on these extremist groups that need to be pushed out of the public debate entirely, and discredited for the hate groups and dangerous fringe groups that they are. "
  

Melania Trump: Aug 12 via Twitter
"Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let's communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence. #Charlottesville"

Ivanka Trump: Aug 13 via Twitter
"There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis. We must all come together as Americans -- and be one country UNITED. #Charlottesville"

Attorney General Sessions: In an interview with ABC News
"Racism, white supremacy is totally unacceptable. I think the president talked about the problems in America in that first statement had been going on a long time."

He went on to say the president, "Explicitly condemned the kind of ideology behind these movements of Nazism, white supremacy, the KKK."

H.R. McMasters: Aug 13 In An Interview with NBC News 

"Certainly I think we can confidently call it a form of terrorism. What terrorism is, is the use of violence to incite terror and fear, and of course it was terrorism."

He went on to speak in defense of the president: "He condemned hatred and bigotry on all sides, and that includes white supremacists and neo-Nazis. I think it's clear I know it's clear in his mind and ought to be clear to all Americans: We cannot tolerate, obviously, that bigotry, that hatred that is rooted in ignorance, ignorance of what America stands for, what America is." 

Share This article

About The Author

Amber C.
Strong

Amber Strong joined the CBN News team in Washington, D.C., in 2014 as a producer and field producer. Currently, she works as a correspondent, producer, and backup anchor for "The Brody File." Her beat includes national politics and The White House. And while she loves her current backyard of Washington, D.C., she’s a Hoosier girl at heart. Amber lives and breathes all things entertainment and politics and has had the privilege of interviewing some of the biggest names in both industries, including late night host Jimmy Fallon and presidential contender Rick Santorum. However, her true love is