President Trump condemns white supremacists after Charlottesville violence

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump on Charlottesville violence: 'Racism is evil' President Trump denounced all hate groups and racism following the deadly weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

WASHINGTON – After two days of public pressure to renounce white supremacists at the root of street violence in Charlottesville, Va., President Trump declared Monday that "racism is evil" and announced that the Justice Department will open a civil rights investigation into the deadly car attack that left one woman dead.

"To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend's racist violence: You will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered," Trump said after returning to the White House to meet with top federal law enforcement officials.

Denouncing racism, Trump said in a prepared speech that "those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans."

Trump's remarks came after an avalanche of criticism for his initial response to the Charlottesville violence between white supremacists and counter protesters on Saturday, which he blamed on "many sides."

In that statement, Trump did not directly call out white nationalists – some dressed in militia-type garb and carrying weapons – who rallied to protest the city's planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Officials tried to shut down the "Unite the Right" rally and declared it an unlawful assembly.

On Monday, Trump met with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and newly confirmed FBI Director Chris Wray hours after the attorney general said the Charlottesville car attack appears to fit the legal definition of domestic terrorism.

A 20-year-old Ohio man James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit and run after driving a car into a crowd of people protesting the demonstration in the city where the University of Virginia is located. The crash killed one woman, Heather Heyer, and wounded 19 others.

"You can be sure we will charge and advance the investigation toward the most serious charges that can be brought because this is unequivocally an unacceptable evil attack," Sessions said on ABC's Good Morning America.

Judge denies bail for Charlottesville car attack suspect James Alex Fields Jr., who slammed his car through a crowd of anti-protesters at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, will not get bond.

After Trump's initial statement on Saturday, numerous Democrats and Republicans called on Trump be more forceful. "Mr. President - we must call evil by its name," tweeted Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo.

In the ensuing controversy, a Trump appointee, Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, resigned from the president's manufacturing council on Monday. "America's leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy," he said. Trump quickly lashed out at Frazier on Twitter, with a jab over what he called "ripoff" drug prices.

Some Republicans said they hope that Trump's stronger statement Monday will help put racial turmoil behind him.

"There was absolutely no reason for this to take 48 hours,"' said Texas-based political consultant Matt Mackowiak. "My sense is most of the air is out of this particular outrage and the White House can go back on offense on trade and other issues."

Susan Bro – mother of Heyer, who was killed on Saturday – issued a statement thanking Trump for Monday's "words of comfort" and denunciation of "those who promote violence and hatred." Trump and Bro also paid tribute to a pair of Virginia state troopers who died in a helicopter crash while patrolling the demonstrations in Charlottesville.

Yet it did not quell all the criticism. Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, called Trump's latest statement "far from sufficient."

Describing the civil rights investigation as the "bare minimum," Greenblatt said on Twitter that the "lack of real plan is mind blowing."

Others continued to question the delay in Trump speaking out against racism.

"The President of the United States should not have to be publicly shamed into condemning neo-Nazis and white supremacists," tweeted Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich.

Civil rights groups called Trump's statement grudging at best.

"While today’s delayed words are welcome, they should have been spoken on Saturday," said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. "This unconscionable delay has undermined his moral credibility as our nation’s leader."

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As Trump traveled to Washington, D.C., from his working vacation in New Jersey, Vice President Pence defended Trump's initial controversial weekend comments on the violent events. Pence also went beyond them to directly condemn "the hate and the violence advocated by groups like white supremacists and neo-Nazis and their ilk."

"I think the president yesterday spoke into a national moment words that the American people needed to hear, that we condemn acts of violence, acts of hatred," Pence said in an interview with NBC News on Sunday.

During a press conference the same day in Cartagena, Colombia, the vice president said Trump had "clearly and unambiguously" condemned the violence and "also made clear that behavior by others of different militant perspectives are also unacceptable in our political debate and discourse."

The problem, the vice president said, was that the media appeared to be more concerned with the president's words than the people behind behind the hateful acts in Charlottesville. "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 that perpetuated the violence to begin with," Pence said at the press conference.

The media needs to refocus its attention, Pence said.

"We ought to focus on ways that we can marginalize those extremist voices, voices that have no place in the public debate in our country, and focus back on what unites us, which is our commitment to freedom, our commitment to free expression and peaceable assembly, our commitment to liberty and justice," he told NBC.

Trump said he returned to the White House for meetings on trade, tax reform, and the economy. Headed to New York City Monday night, Trump returned to a familiar line of attack: the media.

"Made additional remarks on Charlottesville and realize once again that the #Fake News Media will never be satisfied...truly bad people!" he tweeted.