The Memo: Charlottesville anniversary puts Trump and race under microscope

The following article by Niall Stanage was posted on the Hill website August 11, 2018:

 

President Trump answers questions about his response to the violence, injuries and deaths at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville as he talks to the media in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, Aug. 15, 2017. Credit: Kevin Lamarque, Reuters

President Trump’s attitude to race is under the microscope at the first anniversary of fatal racist violence in Charlottesville, Va.

Trump’s reference to “some very fine people on both sides” after white supremacists converged on the Virginia city and a counterprotestor, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, was killed, sparked outrage and prompted even many Republicans to distance themselves from him.

The furor did nothing to water down Trump’s willingness to step into sensitive, racially charged areas, however, a fact underlined by the president’s tweets in the past week.

View the complete article here.