London – British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday there was no equivalence between fascists and those who opposed them, a rare rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump by one of his closest foreign allies.
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Trump inflamed tensions after a deadly rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, by insisting that counter-protesters were also to blame, drawing condemnation from some Republican leaders and praise from white far-right groups.
“There’s 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,” May told reporters when asked to comment on Trump’s stance.
On Monday, May’s spokesman had said that while Britain condemned racism, what the U.S. president said was “a matter for him”.
May has been widely criticized by domestic political opponents for her efforts to cultivate close ties with Trump, who she visited at the White House days after his inauguration and invited for a state visit to Britain.
Her openly critical comment on Wednesday was an unexpected shift from May, who is keen to cement what she and many other Britons see as a “special relationship” between London and Washington as Britain prepares to leave the European Union.
The invitation to Trump to make a state visit to Britain sparked immediate controversy in Britain when the U.S. head of state announced his widely-criticized ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries just hours after May left the White House.
Trump’s stance on the Charlottesville violence drew renewed calls for Trump’s state visit, which would be hosted by Queen Elizabeth and involve lavish pageantry, to be canceled. May had rejected similar calls after previous Trump-related controversies.
“Donald Trump has shown he is unable to detach himself from the extreme-right and racial supremacists,” said Vince Cable, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats.
“It would be completely wrong to have this man visit the UK on a State Visit.”
No date has been announced for the visit.
How about condemning the left’s views…not even the far-left .
Everyone forgets how in the 1980s , theACLU represented the neo nazis and successfully got them permission to march in skokie illinois.
Now the left is wringing their hands in agony over the white supremacist marches that their own warped ideology started
Yup and guess what Trump agrees that there is no moral equivalence. I keep on seeing the same lies printed over and over again how Trump “walked back” his condemnation of white supremacists. Its not true. Its a lie. But say it enough times and Yonasonw and Hashomer will believe it. Let me repeat its a lie. Trump never walked back his condemnation. The press conference yesterday was addressing the violence on both sides in Charleston. Facts are that the left came with no permit and ad clubs and baseball bats at hand. Facts are there was a whole slew of protesters on the right, some good , some bad. And the left provoked and attacked the right. So Both sides are to blame. I don’t know how that “in effect is walking back” any commendation. No in this country we can’t take a gun and kill David Duke. if someone were to do it he would get locked up. Does that mean we are valdiatiing Duke by locking that guy up? No. But there are rules and laws. In a similar vien noone said oh David Duke should not be condemned. But you can’t go and attack him or his people. And if you do both sides are to blame.
Why must you guys always twist Trump’s words?