- Fox News reporter John Roberts went missing on Thursday’s broadcast as he discussed attempts to dance around questions about White House President Donald Trump’s attitude toward white supremacy.
- “Stop blaming. Stop blaming the media. I’m fed up with it,” Roberts said in a sympathetic response to Thursday’s press briefing.
- Trump refused to explicitly condemn white supremacist groups during the presidential debate on Tuesday.
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On Thursday, Fox News reporter John Roberts was apparently frustrated by White House press secretary Kyle McCain’s questions about whether President Donald Trump has condemned white supremacist groups.
“Stop blaming. Stop blaming the media. I’m fed up with it,” Roberts said in a sympathetic response to Thursday’s press briefing.
“The press secretary will not say, clearly and unequivocally, that the president condemns white pride in all its forms and, and any group that supports it,” Roberts told Fox host Melissa Francis.
He cited the fact that several prominent Republicans in Congress have urged Trump to “correct” recent statements on the matter.
“All of you guys on Twitter who are pushing me to ask that question, I don’t care! Because it needs to ask a question and clearly the president’s Republican allies a mile away from here are looking for the answer, too,” Roberts said. .
Li Oliver Darcy (OliverDerci) October October 1, 2020
During the briefing, Roberts asked McKennie for a declaratory statement on whether the president condemns white supremacy and his support groups.
McKinney erroneously stated in his response that Trump “condemned more white supremacy than any other president in modern history.” Trump’s rhetoric and policy position has been frequently celebrated by white supremacists and other far-right groups, and has been endorsed by white nationalists in the past.
The White House press secretary misleadingly said that Trump’s “record on this is uncontrollable and shameful that the media refused to cover it.”
Later, McNee went after Roberts and took to Twitter to note that his wife, journalist Cara Phillips, said in a tweet on Wednesday that “Trump tells me he is undermining white supremacists.”
-Kelei McKenney (@pressac) October October 1, 2020
But Roberts’ questions on Thursday were linked to a well-documented history of Trump’s declaration of white supremacy after public pressure and in a weak, delayed manner. The president has repeatedly failed to strongly condemn white supremacist groups and their ideology.
Trump has made remarks on several occasions that are directly aligned with the worldview of the white supremacist, such as announcing a rally of almost all white supporters in Minnesota during Green Month, which he referred to as “racehorse theory.”
It is true that there have been cases in which the President has rejected white supremacist groups. But this usually happens after receiving support from such groups or individuals associated with the Ku Cooks clan, or after being reacted to by racist or xenophobic statements.
In the most infamous moments of his presidency, Trump blamed “many sides” for the deadly violence at a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017. A counterposter was killed during a white nationalist rally.
Afterwards, former KKK leader David Duke celebrated Trump’s remarks and thanked the president for condemning the “leftist terrorists.”
After an outcry over his initial response to the horrific events in Charlottesville, Trump finally stepped forward and denounced white nationalist groups. But people, including Republicans, criticized Trump for pushing the issue.
Aaron Rupar (@Atroper) October October 1, 2020
In light of this history, Trump was asked by Fox News moderator Chris Wallace to explicitly condemn white supremacist groups during a presidential debate on Tuesday. In response, Trump elevated the far-right extremist group to a record with the spread of white nationalist propaganda and a history of street violence.
Trump replied to Wallace, “Boy of pride, stand back and stand up! But I’ll tell you, Antifa and someone on the left have something to do,” Trump replied to Wallace.
On Wednesday, Trump stepped back and claimed that despite mentioning him explicitly during the debate, he did not know who the boy of pride was. This is part of a broader approach with Trump, who has leaned heavily on the white supremacist stakes in the run-up to the re-election.
