Trump had the chance to at least pretend to be presidential by leading the nation during one of its darkest moments—although it is a moment he personally helped to create. But instead of strongly denouncing the racism, bigotry, hate, and awful violence of Saturday’s white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA, by directly assigning blame, the president—perhaps the single most powerful politician in the world—used vague, coded language that white supremacists can now use to claim victory.
With a nation in shock, the president of the United States used his moment in front of the cameras to praise himself and mention the name of President Barack Obama, a man he once disgracefully claimed was not born in the U.S.