The chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Tuesday said President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE is "throwing salt on the wounds" with his trip to Arizona following the recent violence in Charlottesville, Va.

In an op-ed published in Univision, Chairman Tom Perez said that instead of bringing the country together, Trump was driving Americans apart.

ADVERTISEMENT

"[L]ast week, when we needed this president to unite the American people against hatred and bigotry, Donald Trump did the opposite," Perez wrote.

"Instead of bringing people together, he emboldened white supremacists and created a false equivalence between those upholding racism and those fighting to defeat it," he continued.

"Now Trump is throwing salt on the wounds he tore open, traveling to Arizona to promote his divisive agenda and potentially pardon one of our nation’s most notorious symbols of racism and bigotry: former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio."

Trump is holding a rally Tuesday in Phoenix, where he could announce a pardon of Arpaio.

Perez tore into Arpaio, the former Maricopa County sheriff whom Trump said he is considering pardoning, saying he used racial profiling and tore families apart.

"Donald Trump is trying to take hateful policies like these nationwide," Perez wrote.

He called for Republicans to stand up against Trump and for both parties to come together against hate.

"Just as President Trump first refused to call out white supremacists by name, the vast majority of Republicans have refused to call out Trump for empowering hatred," he wrote.

Perez pointed to specific issues, including making voting easier, keeping immigrant families together and defending civil rights.

"I know bipartisanship on these issues is possible because I’ve seen it firsthand," he said, pointing to his time as a civil rights attorney.

"But with Donald Trump as president, Republicans have thrown morality and reason to the wind."

Perez said Democrats believe the nation's greatest strength is its diversity.

"As Donald Trump tries to divide us, it’s time for Republicans to reject their party’s leader and work with Democrats to build a more inclusive future for all Americans — from Phoenix to Charlottesville," he wrote.

Trump faced backlash from both sides earlier this month for his response to the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Va., that left one woman dead and more than a dozen injured after a car was driven into a crowd of people protesting white supremacists.

During a press conference last week, he said there was "blame on both sides" for the deadly violence.

In his prime-time address Monday, Trump called for unity and denounced hatred and bigotry.