President Donald Trump condemned white supremacist groups by name for the first time on Monday, 48 hours after a white supremacist protest in Virginia turned violent shocking the nation.
Mr Trump had been strongly criticised by civil rights groups, business leaders and fellow Republicans for failing to denounce by name the Ku Klux Klan and other far-right groups behind Saturday’s protests.
“We must unite together in condemnation of hatred, bigotry and violence,” Mr Trump said in a hastily arranged TV appearance at the White House. “We must unite together in condemnation of hatred, bigotry and violence. Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminal and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”