White House Scrambles After Trump Fails To Condemn White Supremacists: Vice President Mike Pence
insisted Sunday evening that President Trump condemns the white supremacists and neo-Nazis behind the unrest in Charlottesville over the weekend that left one counter-protester dead. On Saturday, Trump condemned violence on "many sides," without targeting the white supremacist alt-right groups that organized this weekend's gatherings. In his remarks, Pence said that Trump was clear in his condemnation and that the media was to blame for spending more time focusing on Trump than the white supremacists themselves.
Earlier Sunday, an unnamed spokesman
added to Trump's remarks after Republicans began to
criticize the President's response: "The President said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred. Of course, that includes white supremacists, KKK Neo-Nazi and all extremist groups."
Merck CEO Quits Presidential Council Over Charlottesville Response: Monday morning,Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier
quit President Trump's council on manufacturing citing Trump's lackluster response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville: "America's leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal." Trump quickly attacked Frazier:
View: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/897079051277537280
Top Advisers Turn On Bannon On Sunday TV: On Sunday, national security adviser HR McMaster
dodged three of Chuck Todd's questions asking whether or not he could work with Steve Bannon, former Breitbart head turned Trump adviser. The comments came along with criticism from former Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who told ABC that Trump needs to "move away" from Bannon, who has ties to the alt-right. Two sources
tell CNN that Trump's new Chief of Staff John Kelly has eyes on removing Bannon.
Mattis And Tillerson Say US Is Not Looking For Regime Change In North Korea: Amid rising tensions with North Korea, defense secretary James Mattis and secretary of state Rex Tillerson
attempted Monday to diffuse the situation, insisting in a
Wall Street Journal op-ed that America's goal in North Korea is denuclearization, not regime change. Last week, tensions between the country reached a fever pitch as President Trump and North Korea traded military threats on an almost daily basis.