Does anyone else think Trump has a point?

You are totally right people aren't bad because they don't agree with a certain viewpoint but when they spew out racist vitriol and try to hurt maim or kill just because someone is a different colour to them then they are vile

I am in no way a Trump fan and hate all that the white supremacists stand for. However there was apparently some violence from the other side too. (On a totally different scale) and I assume thats what he was referring to. So in that snse I suppose you could say he had a point. . But by saying there was fault on both sides the implication is that that the fault was equal which it was not of course.
He then bows to political pressure and denounces the alt right etc. But then repeats what he really thinks! He really is not fit to be President.

Who excused them Notme?

Just saying they are 'vile' BlueBelle, even if the majority agree, isn't a solution.

Trump did

Wretched man.

Somehow GNHQ hasn't put this thread on FB/Twitter

The President of the United States has just turned his face to the world to defend Nazis, fascists and racists. For shame

Ruth Davidson

I wonder if he will survive this?

The trouble is we seem to be saying this once a week and he is still there with things just getting worse and worse.

No I don't believe Trump "has a point".
It's simple though isn't it. Nazi's, the KKK, white supremacists can't be compared to people who oppose them. The KKK, segregation, hanging of black Americans by white Americans in the southern states were all still happening during our life times. The 60's, the Civil Rights marches, the support for Dr King from black, white and every other community in the USA led to a period of hope.
The election of Trump has, as was predicted, given a semblance of legitimacy to attitudes to race most of us hoped had been consigned to history.

Agree WW

Trump has been forced to disband the business council that he set up because they are all leaving like mad after Trumps refusal to condem the white supremacists.

Businesses are announcing that they will not deal with any of the hate groups, like the KKK etc.

I've just spent the last 20 minutes reading comments on an American newspaper article about Charlestown ...IS there an education system in the USA ? If there is why do so many of Trumps supporters think/believe that Hitler was a socialist /verging on communist "leftie"...I truly despair at the world .Its like a bad joke ,so many so ill informed .

Paddyann.

Hitler headed the deceptively named "National Socialist German Workers' Party".

The odious Trump is a political lightweight and his pronouncements are cringeworthy. The far right is as ugly and as brutal and as intolerant as the far left however.

Many political commentators have too remarked on the stupidity of trying to erase history, so Trump may have a point. Slavery was a shameful part of history and we should not in any way glorify it. It happened though and we became more enlightened as a result. We sometimes need to look back in order to move forwards in the right direction and we have to learn lessons from the past. We cannot conveniently wipe out mistakes, nor should we. Only tyrants allow us to see the world through their lens.

Trump has shown his true colours, but he has perhaps opened up a debate which we need to have.

Politicians have a way of treading on eggshells and sweeping unpalatable issues under the carpet. I am hoping this discussion regarding the evils of extreme left and right wing ideology is a stepping stone towards a more tolerant and fair society. One can hope....

Trump has "made America hate again".

I'm sure there were "very very fine people on both sides" in those concentration camps.

An excellent editorial in the Guardian this morning, which absolutely chimes with my opinion.

I paraphrase some of the article.

"DT deliberately and shockingly crossed the line that separates the acceptable and unacceptable in the conduct of an elected democratic leader in a multi-racial society.
Trump must now face the consequences of this momentous and inexcusable decision."
The article then when on to describe the last few days of statements and press conferences held by Trump, where as each day passed, Trump made it clear by his petulant and narcissistic demeanour that he was more outraged by the criticism he had received from all quarters over his assertion that the two sides were somehow morally equivalent and that "there was good on both sides" than he was by the swastikas, racist and anti- seminite chants. He saw "good" in his country's racists and neo -Nazis.

There are not "many sides" to this argument.

There is a right and wrong side

Racism, anti-semitism, white supremacist and Nazism -new or old- are WRONG.

A leader who cannot bring himself to say this clearly and unequivocally is not just clueless, he also forfeits his claim to any moral authority.

Europe must show moral clarity whilst dealing with Trump, but this is no place for special courtesies now. Trumps visit must not go ahead. The country does not want it, the Queen does not need it. We would all be better off without out it."

May needs the guts to say it

Any bets on Bannons future length of service?

He's refused to say that he has confidence in Trumpty.

It's and interesting view whitewave but then I don't think anyone has said on here that Racism, anti-semitism, white supremacist and Nazism -new or old- are NOT wrong. Even in the OP I said I would not want Nazis or the KKK marching in my town "I would want the organisations banned, if it were in my country".

However, this in not in my country and I was trying to understand what was happening in another country. I do think that an article that says, simply, that there is a right and a wrong side, implying that anyone who is not on their side is on the wrong side, is missing the point. What they might be better doing is explaining how it got to this point. What is the history? What was happening to the statue? (at least I now know more about that from people on here). Politically, who exactly were the people involved? What do they want and believe in? I doubt anyone on here approves of Nazism but I haven't heard that anyone is threatening Jews in this fracas (they may be but haven't heard that) so what are they saying? How could they get away with carrying guns and other weapons and marching on the town?

The assumption that we all have in depth knowledge of these things, when often even the virtue waving writers seem not have this, is a very strange view of what people are generally interested in.

and an

sorry Charlottesville.thats what happens when you're watching Poldark at the same time as typing and reading comments pages

GG I think the history of the United States is widely known by most people whatever country they inhabit. When writing an article about the Charlottesville protest I think it's entirely reasonable to assume that the reader would be familiar with the historic events which led to the planned removal of the statue of Robert E Lee.

There had been a very recent demonstration against the Jews. I think present day Nazis don't limit their hate to Jews alone either.

If it's historical information you seek I suggest Wikipedia or google history of the United States

I am sorry my knowledge is so inferior to your own Oriel but I rather think I will not be the only one. I do have an overall view of the history of the USA but have never studied it in depth as you obviously have.

I do know that other posters often add to my knowledge; it's one of the reasons I come on here. Usually though, they offer knowledge itself and not condescension.

gg I do think that everyone knows the recent black history if the USA particularly the civil rights movement etc. I'm not clear why you think that the Guardian should have made that explicit in its article.

I think that it is assuming that it's readers have a level of knowledge that helps understand the situation.

The article was not addressed to anyone else but Trump, so I was not suggesting that people on GN supported the far right agenda.

gg the anti- Semite rantings were appalling- did you not see it in the news?

There is nothing in the American constitution that prevents small armies being formed as you saw by the Neo-Nazis on that Charlottesville item. They were dressed in uniforms carrying machine guns.

I would have joined the protest against such evil. No question.