A Jewish member of President Trump’s Cabinet says he was with the president last weekend as violent clashes broke out between neo-Nazis and anti-racism activists in Charlottesville, Va., and that Trump was “upset” at the violence.
“I was with President Trump on Saturday as these events were unfolding,” Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin told reporters. “He was upset, he was outraged, he wanted to make sure that he had the facts before he went out there.”
Trump’s initial statement condemned the violence on “many sides,” which led to criticism that he didn’t adequately single out the white nationalist who allegedly took the life of a counter-demonstrator, Heather Heyer. Trump was more specific Monday, and Shulkin defended those statements and said the first statement was more general because there wasn’t enough information available at the time.
“I know that after Saturday, he was able to sit down with the attorney general and the director of the FBI to get the facts, and that’s why he made his second statement where he did come out after he got the facts,” Shulkin said.
Shulkin declined to criticize Trump’s Tuesday statements about the clashes, in which the president controversially blamed “both sides” for the violence and said there were “very fine people” on both sides of the clash over the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
“I’m speaking out and I’m giving my personal opinions as an American, and as a Jewish American. And for me in particular, I think in learning history, that we know that staying silent on these issues is simply not acceptable,” he said.
Shulkin said that although Trump cast blame on what he called the “alt-left” for confronting white supremacists, including neo-Nazis bearing swastika flags, “I do believe the president believes all Americans should stand up for what they believe in and stand up against bigotry and hatred.”
The violence in Charlottesville ended Saturday when an alleged white supremacist drove a car into a crowd of anti-racism activists, killing 32-year-old Heyer and injuring more than a dozen others. The driver has been charged with murder.
