WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump finds himself more isolated by the minute as people react harshly to his defence of white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. The nation's top business executives have shunned him, and collectively decided to no longer serve on two of Trump's advisory panels. Even the American military leadership was made to speak out on the matter, resulting in statements from the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, and the National Guard Bureau.
They condemned neo-Nazis and racism in uncompromising terms. Even Republicans issued new denunciations of the hatred that was up for display in Virginia. “A lot of us joined this administration thinking we could bring it to the experience and expertise that the President didn't have an opportunity to gain in his business career, and to encourage some restraint in what he says publicly and to our allies,” said a senior White House official. Even top advisers to the President described themselves as stunned, despondent, and numb. Many expressed doubts about his capacity to do the job.
Even British Prime Minister Theresa May, who was criticised for close ties with Trump, spoke out after he repeated that the alt-right and counter-protesters were both to blame. “There is no equivalence, I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them and I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views wherever we hear them,” she said.
Indian-American actor Kal Penn, and Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri are among those who resigned from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Penn tweeted his letter of resignation, which said, “Reproach and censure in the strongest possible terms are necessary following your support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville.”
The statement further said, “The false equivalences you push cannot stand. The administration's refusal to quickly and unequivocally condemn the cancer of hatred only further emboldens those who wish America ill. We cannot sit idly by, the way that your West Wing advisers have, without speaking out against your words and actions.” Also, PepsiCo's Indian-American CEO Indra Nooyi was urged by the Color of Change organisation to step down from the President's Strategy and Policy Forum. She was one of Trump's first appointees to the Strategy and Policy Forum.
A handful of the nation's top leaders resigned from two of Trump's primary advisory councils, on August 15, after the President failed to excoriate white supremacists participating in the 'Unite the Right' rally on August 11-12 in Charlottesville. Violence broke out between white supremacists and counter-protesters on the first day. On the second day, a car ploughed into a large group of counter-protesters, killing 32 year old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others. Trump (who was playing Golf at the time), issued a statement saying, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.” He repeated, “On many sides.”
