President-elect Donald Trump, who spent his entire campaign spouting white nationalist rhetoric, has once again tried to distance himself from the hate-filled groups.
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White supremacists, who have tried to rebrand themselves as the “alt-right,” have been praising Trump’s victory as a plus for their agenda, the Associated Press reports.
“I disavow and condemn them,” Trump said Tuesday during a wide-ranging, make-nice interview with staff members of the New York Times.
Since winning the election, a kinder, softer Trump has been trying to distance himself from the hate speech that filled his run to the White House and emboldened white separatists.
Trump claims he doesn’t want to energize hate groups since a group of white supremacists gathered in a Washington, D.C., restaurant to celebrate Trump’s win, with several in attendance filmed doing the Nazi salute while shouting, “Heil Trump.”
Richard Spencer, the leader of the “alt-right” group caught evoking Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, said he was “disappointed” to learn of Trump’s comments. Spencer noted that he understands “where he’s coming from politically and practically,” AP reports, and added that he is willing to take a “wait and see” approach with the president-elect.
Read more at the Associated Press.
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