House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday denounced the neo-Nazi protest in Charlottesville, Va., and rejected the argument by President Trump that “both sides” were to blame for the conflict.
But he also seemed to push back on calls for a censure of Trump that some Democrats are demanding, by arguing “this is not a legislative issue, and it certainly isn’t a political one.”
Ryan said he will talk about the matter tonight when he appears at a televised “town hall” on CNN.
“There is no confusion about right and wrong here,” Ryan said in a morning blog post. “There are no sides. There is no other argument. We will not tolerate this hateful ideology in our society.”
Ryan, R-Wis., wrote that no one should defend those who marched with the neo-Nazis, who clashed violently with counter-protesters in Charlottesville earlier this month.
Trump was criticized for pointing out that the counter-protesters were also responsible for the violence.
“I think there is blame on both sides,” Trump said last week.
Trump’s comment was quickly denounced by lawmakers in both parties, but Democrats in particular. Many are demanding Congress censure Trump.
Ryan did not specifically reject the censure demand but said the House should not take up legislation to address it.
“So this is not a legislative issue,” Ryan wrote. “And it certainly isn’t a political one. Let’s not just reduce this to one of the partisan squabbles of the day. It is so much bigger than all that. This is a test of our moral clarity. The words we use and the attitudes we carry matter.”
Trump has repeatedly denounced the neo-Nazis, calling them “repugnant.” But he was criticized after the incident for not immediately calling them out.
“We all need to make clear there is no moral relativism when it comes to neo-Nazis,” Ryan said Monday. “We cannot allow the slightest ambiguity on such a fundamental question.”
