New Zealand mosque shootings: Trump claims that white supremacy isn't a 'significant threat'

Donald Trump has once again failed to outright criticise white supremacists and far-right nationalists that have carried out terrorist attacks.

In the wake of the horrific mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, which left 49 people dead and 20 others seriously injured, Trump did condemn the killings.

Firstly on Twitter:

And then during a press conference in the Oval Office:

I spoke with prime minister Ardern of New Zealand to express the sorrow of our entire nation following the monstrous terror attacks at two mosques.

These sacred places of worship were turned into scenes of evil killing. We've all seen what went on. It's a horrible, horrible thing.

However, when the president was questioned on the worrying rise of white supremacy around the world, he said that he didn't see it as a problem and that it was a "small group of people with serious problems".

I don't really. I say it's a small group of people with very, very, serious problems. I guess if you look at what happened in New Zealand, perhaps that's a case. 

I don't know enough about it yet. I'm just learning about the person and the people involved but it is certainly a terrible thing.

What Trump fails to acknowledge is that the attacker had cited the president as 'a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose'.

This troubling link between the POTUS and the terror attack is of great concern, but this is a rhetoric that is all too familiar with the president.

Following the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, where a white supremacist killed a woman with a car, Trump claimed that there was violence and bigotry on "many sides".

Yet when the attacker isn't a white person, Trump is more than happy to condemn people and races as 'threats' or 'terrorists' and tout the need for stronger security and a wall.

During the same Oval Office speech, Trump used words that wouldn't have been out of place at a white supremacist rally, where he claimed that there was an 'invasion of drugs, criminals and people' at the southern border.

Many, including US politicians, were quick to point out this startling contradiction by Trump and why he is as big a problem as any so-called terrorist, and how he has actively helped right-wing extremists.

HT CNN

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