Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has joined Democratic leaders in calling President Trump “a racist and a hater.”
In his book, Beyond Charlottesville: Taking a Stand Against White Nationalism, released as the president told reporters on the White House lawn that he is not a racist, McAuliffe called the president “a white supremacist” and a “dyed-in-the-wool, unapologetic racist.”
McAuliffe, who toyed with a 2020 Democratic presidential bid, remains angered with Trump’s reaction to the August 2017 clash in Charlottesville that left Heather Heyer dead and James Alex Fields Jr., who espoused white supremacist views, convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
He described a calm and satisfying call that day with Trump and said he expected the president “to rise to the occasion. That’s what presidents do.”
When he addressed the press, Trump said both sides in the clash were to blame.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence, on many sides, on many sides,” said the president.
White supremacists & Neo-Nazis came to Charlottesville. They brought death and mayhem.
They called themselves patriots.
Trump called them fine people.I called them cowards.
“Beyond Charlottesville” is the story of that day. Stand united against hate. https://t.co/kZRf6GYGfg
— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) July 29, 2019
McAuliffe wrote, “What was he talking about? On many sides? The president and I had only talked about one side, the side with the heavily armed white supremacists and neo-Nazos on a mission of hate and violence, not the other side with peaceful protesters taking a stand against hate and division.”
He accused Trump of “egging on these hate-filled extremists and infuriating everyone else.”
And, charged McAuliffe, Trump revealed himself that day. “His staff had given the words to sound presidential, the words to bring the country together. Instead, Donald Trump chose that day to come out as a white supremacist. He chose that day to come out as a dyed-in-the-wool, unapologetic racist. It was his coming-out party that day; no more room for any doubt that this man was at heart a racist and a hater.”
Trump and his staff have repeatedly brushed off charges that he is a racist or a politician using code words.
McAuliffe isn’t buying that, and said he plans to take on the fight against racism. “That’s why I’m writing this book,” he penned.
