Berlin - Senior German politicians on
Wednesday accused US President Donald Trump of trivializing
violence by white supremacists in Virginia and called for a
clear rejection of their ideology.
Governments could only win the fight against hatred, racism
and anti-Semitism by rejecting such ideology and the willingness
to use violence, said Martin Schulz, the centre-left candidate
for chancellor, adding that this applies to Germany and the
United States.
"The trivialization of Nazi violence by the confused
utterances of Donald Trump is highly dangerous," said Schulz,
leader of the Social Democrats (SPD).
"We should not tolerate the monstrosities coming out of the
president's mouth," he told the RND newspaper group in an
interview.
Republican leaders criticised Trump for saying leftist
counter-protesters were also to blame for violence last Saturday
in Charlottesville that left one person dead and several
injured. His comments won praise from white far-right groups.
Schulz is the main challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel at
a September 24 election. The SPD, junior partner in Merkel's grand
coalition, trails Merkel's conservatives in polls.
Schulz's comments were echoed by Justice Minister Heiko
Maas, another senior member of the SPD.
"It is unbearable how Trump is now glossing over the
violence of the right-wing hordes from Charlottesville," Maas
said in a statement, reflecting concern across the German
political spectrum about the Trump presidency.
"No one should trivialise anti-Semitism and racism by
neo-Nazis," said Maas, senior member of the co-governing SPD.
Schulz and Maas are the highest-ranking German politicians
to criticise Trump's rhetoric about the violence.
The country has tough laws against hate speech and any
symbols linked to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, who ruled from
1933 until their defeat in 1945.
Merkel told broadcaster Phoenix on Monday that clear and
forceful action was required to combat right-wing extremism,
noting that Germans had also seen a rise in anti-Semitism and
had "quite a lot to do at home ourselves".
Trump has come under increasing pressure over his stance on
the violence, with many members of his own Republican party and
U.S. business executives distancing themselves from him.
Trump on Tuesday said his original reaction was based on
facts he had at the time and said both sides were to blame.
The violence erupted during a protest by white nationalists
against plans to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, commander of
the pro-slavery Confederate army during the American Civil War.
Protesters and counter-protesters clashed in scattered
street brawls before a car ploughed into the rally's opponents,
killing one woman and injuring 19 other people.