By Kevin Coughlin -

It’s time for President Trump to unify the American people, not divide them, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) said on Friday, condemning Trump’s “incomprehensible reaction” to last weekend’s white supremacy rally in Charlottesville.

The remarks in Frelinghuysen’s weekly electronic newsletter were his strongest rebuke of Trump since the election.

A terse statement from Frelinghuysen on Tuesday, condemning bigotry but not mentioning the President, was seen by some as not going far enough.

Friday’s statement–which came at the end of a week of pro-immigration demonstrations outside of the Congressman’s Morristown office–was unequivocal:

“I condemn the President’s repeated attempts to evenly distribute blame for clashes between white nationalists and the demonstrators who oppose them,” said the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

“Rather than employing words that divide us, Donald Trump must recognize that we are one people: the American people,” Frelinghuysen said.

Here is the complete statement.

From Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen:

End the Hatred with Words that Unite, Not Divide

Many hateful things were said and done in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend.

You know the facts: following Friday and Saturday rallies by neo-Nazis, KKK members, white supremacists and other racist fringe groups, a 32-year old woman was killed when a man drove his car into a crowd of people who had arrived to confront their bigotry. Nineteen other people were injured.

These events –- and the incomprehensible reaction to them from the White House — have correctly dominated the news this week.

I condemn the President’s repeated attempts to evenly distribute blame for clashes between white nationalists and the demonstrators who oppose them.

To be clear, the President’s assertion that there were two legitimate “sides” in Charlottesville last weekend is flatly wrong. There can be no comparison – no equivalency – between white supremacists, KKK members and other racist fringe groups and those who showed up to challenge their bigotry, racism and anti-semitism.

Rather than employing words that divide us, Donald Trump must recognize that we are one people: the American people.

The disgusting displays of hatred and bigotry on display in Charlottesville dishonor the millions of men and women of all races, religions and creeds who fought and died to make our country what it is today.