21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch unveiled a $1 million dollar donation to the Anti-Defamation League. | Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for National Geographic James Murdoch rebukes Trump over Charlottesville response

James Murdoch, CEO of 21st Century Fox, slammed President Donald Trump on Thursday for his response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, joining an increasingly long list of business leaders who have publicly condemned the president’s words.

“I can’t even believe I have to write this: standing up to Nazis is essential; there are no good Nazis. Or Klansmen, or terrorists,” Murdoch wrote in a memo to staff obtained by Yahoo that addresses the violence in Virginia and Trump’s reaction to it. “Democrats, Republicans, and others must all agree on this, and it compromises nothing for them to do so.”


Murdoch added that “what we watched this last week in Charlottesville and the reaction to it by the President of the United States concern all of us as Americans and free people.”

He also unveiled to his staff that, in light of the weekend events, he and his wife, Kathryn, were donating $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League, an international nongovernmental organization that combats anti-Semitism.

The president has seen three of his business advisory councils collapse this week because of a backlash from CEOs over his wavering comments in the aftermath of the Charlottesville rally, which left one person dead and dozens more injured. The president announced Wednesday that he was disbanding two of the groups, which advised him on manufacturing and policy, after several business leaders spoke up and dropped out, denouncing Trump’s words and actions in the process. Facing continued criticism Thursday, the White House said its newly formed infrastructure council would also “not move forward.”

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While the president and the White House condemned both the violence and the hate groups involved in Saturday’s rally, Trump’s initial insistence that “many sides” were to blame for inciting clashes caused a stir in business and political circles. Trump provoked further scrutiny by doubling down on his comments at a Tuesday news conference in which he vehemently argued that “both sides” shared blamed for Saturday’s events.

In his memo, Murdoch said the week’s events had shed light on the existence of hatred in the United States.

“The presence of hate in our society was appallingly laid bare as we watched swastikas brandished on the streets of Charlottesville and acts of brutal terrorism and violence perpetrated by a racist mob,” he wrote.

James Murdoch is the son of Rupert Murdoch, the current chairman and CEO of Fox News and a personal friend and strong supporter of Trump.