Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/867410
8 August 31 • 2017 jn views commentary The President Has A Special Obligation To Condemn Nazis And KKK A ll decent Americans have an obligation to condemn the violent bigotry of the Nazi and KKK demonstrators in Charlottesville or wherever else they spew their poisonous and threatening rhetoric. But President Donald Trump has a special obliga- tion to single out for condemna- tion, and distance himself from, individuals and groups that claim — even if falsely — to speak in his name, as the racist provocateurs in Charlottesville did. David Duke, the notorious bigot, told reporters that white nation- alists were working to "fulfil the promises of Donald Trump." Richard Spencer, the founder of the Daily Stormer (a not so coded homage to the Nazi publication Der Stürmer,) attributed the growth of the ultra- nationalist alt-right to the Trump presidency: "Obviously the alt-right has come very far in the past two years in terms of public exposure … is Donald Trump one of the major causes of that? Of course." Trump initially responded as fol- lows: "We must ALL be united and condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America." But then, fol- lowing the car ramming that killed a peaceful protestor, President Trump made the following statement: "We condemn in the strongest pos- sible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides — on many sides." President Trump's inclusion of the words "violence on many sides" — which seemed improvised — sug- gested to some a moral equivalence between the Nazis and the KKK, on the one hand, and those protesting and resisting them, on the other hand. Trump denied that he was suggesting any such equivalence and made the following statement: "Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, includ- ing KKK, Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, and other hate groups are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans. Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America." But then a day later he seemed to double down on his attempt to be even-handed in his comments about the "many sides" of this conflict. He pointed to "very fine people on both sides," implying that Nazis and Klansmen could be "fine," because their protests were "very legal." Then he denounced "alt-left" groups that were "very, very violent." Once again, he blamed "both sides," and asked rhe- torically, "What about the 'alt-left', that as you say, came charging at the alt-right? Don't they have any semblance of guilt?" David Duke immediately praised President Trump's condemnation of the "alt-left," thanking him "for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa." Finally (though nothing this presi- dent ever tweets is final), President Trump praised the anti-racist "pro- testors in Boston who are speaking out against bigotry and hate." It is against this background that the president's back and forth state- ments must be evaluated. Even if it were true — and the evidence is to the contrary — that Black Lives Matter and Antifa were as blameworthy for Charlottesville as the Nazis and KKK, it would still be incumbent on President Trump to focus his condemnation especial- ly on the violent racists on the right that claim to speak on his behalf. The hard left — which does, in part, include some violent and bigoted elements — does not purport to speak on the president's behalf and does not claim to be trying to "fulfil the promises of Donald Trump." To the contrary, they oppose everything he stands for. This situation poses a delicate dilemma for President Trump. He has denounced the ideology of the violent racists on the alt-right who claim to be acting in his name — not quickly or forcefully enough. And he has declared his opposi- tion to "racism" and specifically to "those who cause violence in its name," whom he has called "crimi- nals" and "thugs." He specifically included within these categories the "KKK, Neo-Nazis [and] White Supremacists," the very groups that purport to speak in his name. Why is that not enough? Why should he not at the same time con- demn the alt-left for its violence? These are reasonable questions that require nuanced answers. Let me try to provide some. I have long believed that it is the special responsibility of decent conservatives to expose, con- demn and marginalize hard-right extremists and bigots. William F. Buckley showed the way when he refused to defend Patrick Buchanan against charges that what he had said amounted to anti-Semitism. Other decent conservatives fol- lowed Buckley's lead, and marginal- ized anti-Semites and racists who expressed bigotry in the false name of conservatism. I also believe that it is the special responsibility of decent liberals to do the same with regard to hard- left bigoted extremists. I must acknowledge, as a liberal, that we have not done as good a job as decent conservatives have done. Perhaps this is because hard-left extremists often march under ban- ners of benevolence, whereas, hard- rights extremists tend not to hide their malevolence. Consider, for example, Antifa, the radical hard-left group, some of whose members violently con- fronted the Nazis and Klansmen in Charlottesville. As reported by the New York Times, the organization is comprised of a "diverse collec- tion of anarchists, communists and socialists" with its "antecedents in Germany and Italy." According to the Times, "Its adherents express disdain for mainstream liberal poli- tics" and support "direct action" by which they mean "using force and violence," rather than free speech and civil disobedience. Their lead- ers claim that violence is necessary because "it's full on war." Nor is this merely rhetoric. On university campuses, particularly at Berkeley, "black-clad protestors, some of whom identified themselves as Antifa, smashed windows, threw gasoline bombs and broke into cam- pus buildings, causing $100,000 in damage." They model themselves Alan M. Dershowitz President Trump must stop being even-handed in his condemnations of bigotry. continued on page 10