Former Massachusetts governor and Utah Senate candidate Mitt Romney, a Republican, called on Americans to “insist” elected leaders respect all Americans, comments that come as the anniversary of the violent Unite the Right rally approaches.
“As citizens of a nation founded on the principle of human equality, we must categorically and consistently reject racism and discrimination,” Romney wrote in a blog post on Friday.
“We must insist that those we elect as our leaders respect and embrace Americans of every race, sexual orientation, gender, and national origin,” Romney wrote on Friday. “In this country, it must be electorally disqualifying to equivocate on racism.”
The Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, 2017 was organized to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Counterprotester Heather Heyer was killed after a self-identified neo-Nazi drove a vehicle into a crowd.
Virginia State Police Troopers Lt. H. Jay Cullen III and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates were also killed in a helicopter crash while policing the event.
Trump received widespread backlash to his original comments after the events in Charlottesville when he said “both sides” shared blame for the violence.
Romney also criticized Trump’s initial remarks on the violence and shared a tweet he had written last year, noting that both sides were “not the same.”
No, not the same. One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) August 16, 2017
“Prior to and after Charlottesville, the President made public statements that were viewed by some as expressing or evoking racism,” Romney wrote on Friday. “He objected to this characterization and insisted that he opposes racism. What followed has been a national conversation about the implications of race in America.”
Trump, however, did condemn “all types of racism and acts of violence” on Saturday morning.
States of emergency have been declared for Virginia and the City of Charlottesville from Aug. 10-12, since multiple events will be held to commemorate the first anniversary of the original Unite the Right rally.
Jason Kessler, who organized the first rally, has also planned a Unite the Right 2 protest for Sunday in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., near the White House.
