Rep. Will Hurd, Texas Republican, on Thursday said it’s clear everyone should be against racism in 2017, but that the GOP is broader than President Trump, who has taken fire from both sides for his remarks in the wake of the recent violence in Charlottesville.
“The leader of the free world should be unambiguous in the opposition to racism, bigotry, and anti-Semitism,” Mr. Hurd said on “CBS This Morning.”
“We also have to realize — I … tell people all the time, we didn’t elect an emperor, we elected a president,” he said. “And the Republican party is broader than just one individual.”
“It’s 2017. It should be very clear that everybody should be against racism, against bigotry,” he said. “The fact that the leader of the Senate had to put out a statement to say that there are no good neo-Nazis is problematic.”
Mr. Trump had said Tuesday that there were “very fine people on both sides” of the clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend between neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups and counterprotesters.
“Let’s focus on what unites us — not what divides us,” Mr. Hurd said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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