Reportedly upset with Trump's Charlottesville remarks, McConnell rebukes white nationalists
White supremacists considering a rally in Lexington aren't welcome in Kentucky and should stay away, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred," the senior Kentucky senator said Wednesday. "There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head."
He added, "Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America."
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McConnell was not the only voice of opposition from the Kentucky congressional delegation.
In a statement Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul also condemned the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"Our prayers go out for those who tragically lost their lives in Charlottesville," he said. "Going forward, we must say to those who preach hatred - your time is over. This is not who we are, and we will not stand by while you divide us.”
A Lexington rally is reportedly being planned by white nationalists after Lexington Mayor Jim Gray announced Saturday he intends to take action to relocate the city's Confederate statues in the wake of a violent rally in Charlottesville over the weekend that left three people dead and 35 injured.
Though McConnell has been publicly silent so far on President Donald Trump's Tuesday remarks on the violence in Charlottesville, according to CNN he is privately upset with how Trump handled the episode.
McConnell's statement comes after the president repeatedly bashed McConnell on Twitter last week over the Senate's failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Rep. John Yarmuth, a Democratic congressman from Louisville, wrote a letter to Trump Wednesday in response to the president's remarks at a press conference Tuesday, vowing to speak out when "you undermine our democracy," and calling the question of which group was more violent "meaningless."
"Your comments yesterday were truly deplorable (yes, I went there), but I confess you were right about one thing: there were two sides to the Charlottesville story. Sadly and inexplicably, you refused to take sides. One side was standing up for American values; the other was subverting our democracy," Yarmuth wrote.
"By suggesting that blame for the incident was shared, you ignored the most critical point: American citizens committed to the denial of rights and freedoms for their fellow citizens were openly marching through an American city, making a mockery of the foundational principles of the country," he wrote.
In an interview with Spectrum News, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-6th, said that Trump's statement referring to violence "on many sides," missed the mark.
“Too much ambiguity on the first pass,” Barr said to Spectrum News. “The administration, I was glad to see the vice president clearly with moral clarity certainly condemn the white nationalists groups there.”
In his interview with Spectrum News, Barr said the decision to remove Confederate statues should be made by the community.
"They shouldn't be unilateral decisions, and I think this decision will be made, should be made by a vote of the Urban County Council," Barr said to Spectrum News.
Reporter Tessa Weinberg can be reached at 502-582-4168 or tweinberg@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Tessa_Weinberg.