White House: ‘Contemptible’ for people to invoke Trump’s name for bigotry

The White House in an article published Saturday denounced the use of President Trump’s name to invoke bigotry and violence, calling it “contemptible.”

“The president condemns violence, bigotry and hatred in all its forms, and finds anyone who might invoke his or any other political figure’s name for such aims to be contemptible,” White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement to The New York Times.

The Times’ piece, titled in part “How a president’s name became a racial jeer,” details various incidents across the country in which individuals have used Trump’s name to make racial slurs.

{mosads}

The incidents included an undocumented immigrant telling police that two assailants stapled a note on him after telling him “Trump doesn’t like you,” as well as a businessman assaulting and taunting an airline worker wearing a hijab, telling her “Trump is here now. He will get rid of all of you.”

The piece also cites a Southern Poverty Law Center survey released after the 2016 election, which reported an increase in incidents involving swastikas, Confederate flags and Nazi salutes.

The Trump administration has grappled with issues of race playing out on the national stage during President Trump’s first year in office, including after violence erupted in the normally quiet college town of Charlottesville, Va., in August.

One person died in clashes and dozens of others were left injured after white nationalists demonstrated against the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. 

The president caused controversy shortly after, saying both sides were responsible for the violence.