Trump and White House go AWOL following shameless refusal to denounce white supremacy

Donald Trump and Mike Pence have no scheduled public appearance today, and White House officials did not book any communications representatives on the Sunday morning talk shows, as the shocked nation reels from the violent white supremacist riot in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Nearly three dozen people were injured in the mayhem yesterday, which featured neo-Nazis waging war, ostensibly in the name of preserving a public statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. And they did it while David Duke, a former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, toasted Trump as an inspiration.

The right-wing marchers were chanting phrases like “You will not replace us” and, more disturbingly, “Jews will not replace us,” according to the New York Times.

But less than 24 hours after the violence hit its crescendo, when a white supremacist plowed his car into a crowd of protestors, killing one and injuring at least 19, Trump remains off duty, enjoying his 17-day vacation at his golf resort in New Jersey.

And Trump’s no-show schedule today comes after he was widely criticized, from both parties, for not sufficiently condemning the unbridled violence unleashed in the streets of Charlottesville. Instead, Trump made weak, rambling comments rebuking violence coming from “many sides” and, oddly, bragging about the economy.

Many of the critical voices expressed concerns like those of Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner:

Mr. President – we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism. https://t.co/PaPNiPPAoW

— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) August 12, 2017

Trump’s AWOL act on Sunday stands in contrast to several days of public interactions with the press, which he used as a forum to unfurl dangerous braggadocio about the “fire and fury” that may envelope North Korea.

The White House’s silence today regarding right-wing domestic terrorism also comes in the wake of Trump’s refusal to condemn, or even acknowledge, the Minnesota mosque that was bombed last weekend.

Trump continues to show the nation and the world exactly who he is — and it gets more disturbing every day.