McEnany: Trump doesn't need to condemn 'white power' video because he deleted it

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Wednesday that Donald Trump didn’t need to condemn a video he had promoted featuring a supporter yelling “white power” because he later deleted the tweet.

Trump retweeted the video on Sunday morning. The video showed an unnamed man confronting anti-Trump protesters during a pro-Trump demonstration at The Villages retirement community in Florida. Trump did not remove his tweet until over three hours later.

From a July 1 press briefing:

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, MCCLATCHY DC: The president has come under criticism this week for statements that he has made that his detractors say are dog whistles to a certain segment of his base, that he is trying to gin up for reelection. Those include comments like “kung-flu,” “our heritage” while talking about Confederate statues, and most recently, they include the video — that I know you discussed in here the other day — but the video of a supporter of his using the term “white power.” So why hasn’t the president denounced that video and called that a hateful statement?

 

McENANY: The president took down that video. That deletion speaks strongly. What I would note — the president has repeatedly condemned hate. August of 2019, “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America.” On April 2019, “We have no tolerance for those who disrupt this peace, and we condemn all hate and violence, especially in our places of worship.” August 2018, “I condemn all types of racism.” He’s repeatedly done this.

 

CHAMBERS: But why hasn’t he denounced that specific video and said that that is hateful language that was used in it?

 

McENANY: He deleted it. The deletion speaks for itself. His repeated condemnations of hate speak for themselves. And this is a president who’s repeatedly condemned hate and repeatedly encouraged for us all to come together.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.