Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), along with co-sponsors Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), and Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-NJ), on Wednesday introduced legislation asking Congress to formally reprimand Donald Trump for his woefully inadequate, grotesque, and harmful response to Charlottesville, in which he empathized with neo-Nazis and blamed antifascists for the actions of white supremacist terrorists that killed one woman and injured several others.
“Not even a week has passed since the tragedy in Charlottesville. But on Tuesday, the president poured salt on the nation’s wounds by defending those who marched with white supremacists,” said Jayapal in a statement announcing the censure and condemnation resolution. “In an unscripted press conference, we saw the real and unfiltered Donald Trump—the logical endpoint for a man who has consistently trafficked in racism throughout his career.”
The legislation asks Congress to “censure and condemn” Trump “for his inadequate response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia” and for the following:
“…his failure to immediately and specifically name and condemn the white supremacist groups responsible for actions of domestic terrorism, for re-asserting that “both sides” were to blame and excusing the violent behavior of participants in the ‘Unite to Right’ rally, and for employing people with ties to white supremacist movements in the White House, such as Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka”
The bill also asks Trump to “fire any and all White House advisors who have urged him to cater to the alt-Right movement in the United States.”
Congress has not censured a president since Andrew Jackson in 1834, and doing so now would send a powerful message to the White House. We’ll also find out, through support for this measure, how many of the Republicans who have repudiated Trump’s language are really willing to take a stand against him.
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