WASHINGTON—U.S. President Donald Trump condemned white supremacists on Monday after two days of withering criticism over his failure to do so.“Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” Trump said at the White House.Trump had been denounced even by Republicans for a Saturday statement in which he faulted “many sides” for bigotry and violence at a white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville, Va., where an anti-racist protester was murdered when an apparent white supremacist allegedly ran into her intentionally with a car.Trump, for the first time, said the name of the murder victim, 32-year-old Charlottesville paralegal Heather Heyer. He also extended condolences to the two Virginia state police officers killed in a helicopter crash.Trump, this time, stuck to his prepared text, eschewing the ad-libbed boasting that marked his address on Saturday – though he again bragged about his economic record. He spoke after a meeting with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Trump said the government was opening a civil rights investigation into the “racist violence” in Charlottesville.Trump was silent on Sunday. His administration generated additional criticism when it released an anonymous statement that said Trump condemns “all forms” of bigotry and violence, though that one specified that Trump was including “white supremacists, KKK Neo-Nazi and all extremist groups.”On Monday morning, he finally tweeted an emotional statement – criticizing a black business executive for criticizing him. After Ken Frazier, chief executive of the pharmaceutical company Merck and Co., resigned from Trump’s manufacturing advisory council to “take a stand against intolerance and extrem ...
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