Alaska’s U.S. senators have issued a second round of statements following the rally of White nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia. This time their criticisms are aimed at President Trump.
“What the President said yesterday was wrong,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski wrote on Facebook Wednesday night, a day after the president’s press conference in Trump Tower. “There is no moral equivalence between those who are inciting hate and division, and those who took to the streets to make it clear that those views are unacceptable.”
Murkowski previously condemned bigotry and anti-semitism, without mentioning Trump or his assertions that “many sides” were to blame for the violence.
Sen. Dan Sullivan’s second Facebook post said, “Anything less than complete and unambiguous condemnation of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the KKK by the president of the United States is unacceptable. Period.”
The senators join a number of fellow Republicans in Congress who say the president should have condemned neo-Nazis and White nationalists more forcefully. This morning, Trump issued a series of Tweets blasting his critics and lamenting the removal of Confederate statues from American cities.
In Anchorage on Thursday, Alaska Congressman Don Young declined to answer a question during a press conference with other Western state House members.
“Congressman, we’d like to hear your thoughts on the events in Charlottesville,” a reporter asked.
“We’re not on that subject right now,” Young responded. “We’re talking about resources. I brought these people up to see it. They’ve seen it. Next!”
Young’s spokesman later provided a written statement that said: “I stand united with Americans from across all corners and demographics of our nation in condemning the violence, hatred and bigotry in Charlottesville, VA.”
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
