Rep. Charlie Dent Charles (Charlie) Wieder DentRepublican former Michigan governor says he's voting for Biden Biden picks up endorsements from nearly 100 Republicans Bush endorsing Biden? Don't hold your breath MORE (R-Pa.) on Thursday said that Republicans have an obligation to speak out against racism.

"As the party of Abraham Lincoln we have to stand up and oppose this type of racism we have seen coming out of Charlottesville," Dent said on CNN's "New Day."

Dent's comments come as President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE faces backlash over his response to a white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend that turned violent.

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In a wild news conference Tuesday, the president defended those who gathered in the Virginia college town to protest the removal of a Confederate statue and equated white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups with the counterprotesters opposing them.

"What about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt?" Trump asked as he sparred with reporters.

Dent, a moderate who has spoken critically of the Trump administration in the past, was among the chorus of Democrats and Republicans urging Trump to take a harder line against hate groups on Tuesday, tweeting that the president "must stop the moral equivalency."