After Charlottesville, pressure mounts for Trump to condemn white supremacists

The US President was criticised for his initial response to the violence in Charlottesville.

Pressure is mounting from both political parties for President Donald Trump to explicitly condemn white supremacists and hate groups involved in deadly, race-fueled clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.

People gather downtown protest the alt-right movement and to mourn the victims of a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. (AFP Photo)

Trump has been at his New Jersey golf club on a working vacation. He is set to make a one-day return to Washington on Monday to sign an executive action on China’s trade practices.

But he will likely be unable to escape questions and criticism for his initial response to Saturday’s violence. At the time he blamed bigotry on “many sides.”

The White House has tried to stem the damage, sending aides to the Sunday news shows and putting out a new statement on the attacks. Vice President Mike Pence condemned “fringe groups,” singling out white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.