Donald Trump slammed for failure to denounce white supremacists after woman is killed at rally

The President at first criticised the “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” which led critics to suggest he was drawing an equivalence between the armed and aggressive neo-Nazis and Klu Klux Klan members who marched through Charlottesville, and the anti-racist protesters who turned out to oppose them.

A White House official later tried to clarify the remark: “The President was condemning hatred, bigotry and violence from all sources and all sides. There was violence between protesters and counter-protesters today,” the official said.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden tweeted: “There is only one side”.

It was only late yesterday that the White House came close to specifically criticising white-nationalist protesters.

“The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred, and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi, and all extremist groups,” the White House said. “He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together.”

America is still reeling from the weekend of right-wing terrorism.

The governor of Virginia declared a state of emergency, early Saturday morning after a far right rally turned violent.

Hours later a car driven by a Trump supporter plowed into a crowd of anti-racist protesters, killing paralegal Heather Heyer and injuring about 20 others, including five critically.

Heyer’s Facebook cover photo, uploaded about a week after Trump won the 2016 presidential election, said: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”

She was one of thousands of local protesters expressing disgust at the racist rally in her hometown.

Members of the American Nazi Party, the Klu Klux Klan, and supporters of the so-called alt-right arrived en masse on Friday for what was supposed to be a demonstration against the city’s decision to remove a statue of Robert E Lee, the confederate general who fought in the American civil war so the South could keep black people as slaves.

Promoted as “Unite the Right”, it was supposed to be one of the largest gathering of white nationalists in recent history.

The clashes started on Friday when the racist thugs, the majority of whom were men, walked through the campus of the University of Virginia holding flaming torches.

On the Saturday morning the white nationalists gathered around the city’s McIntire park, where the Robert E Lee statue currently sits.

Some protesters waved Confederate flags and chanted Nazi-era slogans. Others wore helmets and carried shields. There was also a militia of armed men wearing bulletproof vests and carrying rifles.

When they got to the statue the protesters reportedly shouted: “You will not replace us” and “Jews will not replace us.”

Earlier David Duke, a former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, had told reporters the rally was to “fulfill the promises of Donald Trump” to “take our country back.”

By 11am, after both sides had made their way to Emancipation Park, there was fighting. Barricades came down and the police temporarily retreated.

The gathering was quickly declared an unlawful assembly, and police and the National Guard moved in to clear the park before noon. It was after the right-wing demonstration was dispersed that a grey sports car accelerated into the anti-racist protesters, sending them flying.

The car crashed, reversed and then sped away.

Republican party member James Alex Fields Jr, 20, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and failing to stop at the scene of a crash that resulted in a death.

Fields’s mother Samantha Bloom said she believed her son had been taking part in a pro-Trump rally.

“I thought it had something to do with Trump,” she said. “Trump’s not a white supremacist.”

Referring to her son, she said:”He had an African-American friend so...” before her voice trailed off.

Trump took a long time to condemn the violence.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, Trump’s wife Melania, and dozens of other public figures condemned the march far quicker than the president.

The First Lady, using her official Twitter account, wrote: “Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let’s communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence. #Charlottesville.”

When Trump finally did comment, his mealy mouthed statement was widely panned.

One of those displeased with Trump was the mayor of Charlottesville, Mike Signer,who said. “I do hope that he looks himself in the mirror and thinks very deeply about who he consorted with during his campaign.”

Former President Barack Obama responded to the violence on Twitter with a quote from Nelson Mandela: “No-one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion... People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love..”

Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “There is no equivalence between Nazis who peddle hate and those who protest against them to defend tolerance of diversity #Charlottesville”

Even Nigel Farage was critical, tweeting: “Cannot believe we’re seeing Nazi salutes in 21st century America.” The former Ukip leader was much mocked, with critics pointing out that he had a part to play in the rise of the right wing.

A helicopter that was being used by Virginia state police to monitor the protests crashed near a golf course while en route to the scene and burst into flames, killing the two officers on board.