Update: Sen. Dan Sullivan has also weighed in on Trump’s comments in a Facebook post saying “Anything less than complete and unambiguous condemnation of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the KKK by the president of the United States is unacceptable. Period.”
Original story
Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski took to Twitter Wednesday night to condemn President Donald Trump’s incendiary press conference where he blamed “both sides” for violence—including the murder of one protester—during white supremacist marches in Charlottesville, Virginia.
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) August 17, 2017
Trump was slow to condemn the violence over the weekend, or even name racism, white supremacy or neo-Nazis in his initial statement. He would later explicitly name those groups while reading a prepared statement. On Tuesday, however, he returned to the press where in a free-wheeling statement that stunned many Republicans and Democrats for seeming to defend racist protest groups.
“What the President said yesterday was wrong,” Murkowski wrote.
Trump returned to Twitter this morning to say he was “sad” over the removal of “our beautiful statutes.”
Rallies were held throughout Alaska this week in a public display against racism and bigotry.
“There is no moral equivalence between those who are inciting hate and division and those who took to the streets to make it clear that those views are unacceptable,” Murkowski wrote on Twitter. “Every one of us must stand against hatred, bigotry, and violence, in both our words and our actions. We all have the responsibility to unite and heal our country.”
Murkowski’s strong rebuke of the President Donald Trump’s words come after Alaska’s congressional delegation already condemned the violence over the weekend, as reported by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
“I am appalled by the news coming out of Charlottesville. We are a nation of one, united, committed to freedom and equality,” Murkowski said in a written statement. “Hatred, racism, anti-Semitism, and bigotry are not welcome in America, and will not be condoned.”
Sullivan described the events of the weekend as “deeply troubling” in a tweet Saturday.
“The sight of white supremacists and neo-Nazis marching in an American city — or anywhere for that matter — is a disgrace,” Sullivan said in a longer statement. “Their hateful ideology, which seeks to undermine the dignity of people based on their race, is antithetical to American ideals and values.”
Thank You Lisa. I am glad to see that you have not lost your mind like so many others in congress have.
Bottom line though, IMO, we can not continue to destroy cultures and kill people over seas and expect a harmonious home life. It doesn’t work like that.
Our military needs to be reined in and leave other nations alone. Only then will peace at home be possible.
Lisa so glad you are standing up for what is right-Trump is ruining our country!!
Lisa, your statement on the lack of a moral equivalent between the hateful, racist bigots among the Nazis, the KKK, et al., and those seeking to maintain reason, respect for other ethnicities, and a peaceful country, was EXCELLENT!! Thank you. Please keep standing up against Donald Trump.