Media fails to ask about Trump’s support for racists at first briefing since Charlottesville

Reporters effectively helped Trump turn the page in what has been regarded by many as the worst period of his entire presidency.

Trump said “many sides” were culpable for the Charlottesville, Virginia, terrorist attack by white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Trump has continued to defend himself repeatedly since then. His remarks led Susan Bro, the mother of slain protester Heather Heyer, to denounce Trump.

But the media didn’t ask press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders a single question about it.

The press briefing happened less than 48 hours after Trump went on a 20-minute rant where he expressed sympathy for the treasonous, pro-slavery confederacy. Trump whined about the movement to remove Confederate statues, saying, “They are trying to take away our history and our heritage.”

Despite his use of the presidential bully pulpit to express sympathy for the anti-American, pro-slavery movement that led to thousands of deaths, the media did not ask about it.

Instead, multiple questions were asked about Trump’s threat to shut down the government over his nonsensical border wall, his annual physical examination, and his relationship with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

While it is notable that Sanders had poor responses to these questions and others — repeatedly saying she had not had an opportunity to discuss these issues with Trump, even though she had an extended break between briefings to collect these facts — the media dropped the ball by not questioning the White House on the most important issue facing the country and wreaking havoc on Trump’s presidency.

Americans increasingly believe that Trump’s presidency is about preserving or growing white supremacy, and his excuses for white supremacist violence and support of the so-called “alt-right” racist movement have come to define him.

His top aide, Kellyanne Conway, said that reporters should be “forced” to report favorably on Trump, but by their actions in the briefing, they seem to be admitting they don’t need to be forced after all.

They are voluntarily lying down.