No one, ‘especially the President of the United States,’ should tolerate bigotry, Moran says

Sen. Jerry Moran issued a fresh denunciation of racism on Tuesday following another round of equivocal remarks on white supreamcists from President Donald Trump.

“As I said this weekend, white supremacy, bigotry and racism have absolutely no place in our society, and no one – especially the President of the United States – should ever tolerate it. We must all come together as a country and denounce this hatred to the fullest extent,” Moran, a Republican, said.

Earlier in the day, Trump said “there is blame on both sides” for the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, appearing to once again equate the actions of white supremacist groups and those protesting them. He showed sympathy for the fringe groups’ efforts to preserve Confederate monuments.

The president’s comments effectively wiped away the statement he delivered on Monday when he branded members of the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as “criminals and thugs.”

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a Republican who represents Kansas’s 2^nd district, said she remains firm in believing white supremacy is a “blight” on the nation.

“There is no place for bigotry and racism in America. Period,” Jenkins said.

It did not appear that Sen. Pat Roberts or Rep. Ron Estes, who represents Wichita and southcentral Kansas, had issued new statements as of 9 p.m. Tuesday.

On Monday, Roberts told the Wichita Rotary that cities need to pass strong hate-crime ordinances to deal with extremist demonstrations. He praised Trump’s initial response to Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville, which also was criticized as equivocating between white supremacists and demonstrators who were opposing them.

Estes also denounced white supremacy on Monday and praised Trump’s statements.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 9:31 PM with the headline "No one, ‘especially the President of the United States,’ should tolerate bigotry, Moran says."