Example of
Sin of Omission, False Comparison
by
Donald Trump
regarding
Charlottesville, and Sin of Omission, False Comparison by the Liberal Media
On August 12, 2017, at a white supremacist rally, white supremacists and anti-white supremacist protesters (which included a group called "Antifa")
clashed and fought in Charlottesville, Virginia. Minutes later, a car plowed into a group of anti-white supremacist protesters, killing one person, and
injuring many.
The President responded by saying "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides." [1]
[Sin of Omission by Donald Trump. He didn't identify the white supremacists at the rally. However, when a terrorist attack occurs, he's quick to identify it as radical Islamic terrorism.] [Pandering to white supremacists by Donald Trump]
[False Comparison by Donald Trump. In terms of violence, a person was killed.]
Only after pressure from fellow Republicans like Cory Gardner who said that white supremacists cannot be part of our base [2] did the White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders say via Bloomberg that Trump 'condemns' white supremacists, KKK, Neo-Nazi, and all extremist groups on August 13, 2017.
On August 14, 2017 Donald Trump gave a speech that condemned white supremacists. [3]
On August 15, 2017 at an infrastructure press conference, Trump said [4] once again, that there was violence on both sides. Trump also said "You had a lot of bad people in the other group too" which suggests that Trump was equating the two morally. [False Comparison by Donald Trump. Antifa is bad, but the KKK and Nazis are many times worse.]
Also on August 15, 2017 Trump said that there were many fine people who were at the rally, that just wanted to protest the taking down of statues.
[Wishful thinking by Donald Trump - a fine person with common sense would not join a white supremacist rally in order to protest the taking down of statues.
However, a fine person would attend the rally to protest the white supremacists.]
Trump went on to say if you were to look at the night before, there were fine people protesting very quietly. [Fact Check: False. Fine people would not know about the gathering. According to Elle Reeve from Vice News, the gathering of White Supremacists on the night before was unannounced.]
Also at the rally, two reporters were punched in the face by Antifa. The Mainstream / Liberal Media failed to cover Antifa's behavior. [Sin of Omission by the Mainstream / Liberal Media]
However, Jake Tapper of CNN told the truth via Twitter calling Antifa's acts disgusting.[6] [Honesty Points for Jake Tapper]
In response to Trump equating both sides, Chris Cuomo of CNN posted a picture via Twitter that compared American Soldiers fighting Hitler and the Nazis with Anti-protestors fighting white supremacists.
[False Comparison by Chris Cuomo. American soldiers are good, but Antifa are bad. (The other anti-protestors - good.)]
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe speaking about the Charlottesville incident was reluctant to identify and condemn Antifa's actions. [Sin of Omission by Terry McAuliffe]
On Aug 22, 2017 at a rally in Arizona, Trump mocked "the dishonest media." He told his audience that on on Aug 12, 2017 he did say he strongly condemned the hatred, bigotry, and violence." [Sin of Omission by Donald Trump - he left out the part where he said "on many sides."] [Major Pinocchio by Donald Trump]
On August 23, 2017, in defense of Trump, Sean Hannity showed video of Trump disavowing David Duke and white supremacists once in 2000, and six times in 2016. [Sin of Omission by Hannity - he left out the part that Trump was pandering to white supremacists for the Charlottesville incident.]
On August 27, 2017 peaceful right-wing demonstrators were attacked by Antifa in Berkeley, California. This time, The Washington Post, Associated Press, and others reported on Antifa's violent actions. [Honesty Points for the Liberal Media]
On Tuesday August 29, 2017, when confronted by reporters to comment about the Berkeley violence, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said "People have the right to express themselves, and other people have a right to respond to it. There should never be any violence involved in that." [Sin
of Omission by Nancy Pelosi for refusing to identify Antifa.] [Pandering to Antifa by Nancy Pelosi]
However, hours later, Nancy Pelosi released a statement that said, "The violent actions of people calling themselves Antifa in Berkeley this weekend deserve unequivocal condemnation, and the perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted." [Honesty Points for Nancy Pelosi]
In the aftermath, democratic leaders were still reluctant to condemn Antifa's violence. Larry O'Connor commented by saying "Democrats are loathe to condemn Antifa because, in part, they represent their base."