Republicans on Charlottesville: who's with Trump and who's against him?

The Republican party was left reeling after the president defended those who took part in a white supremacist rally. Here’s a look at who said what

The Republican party is reeling after Donald Trump defended people who took part in a far-right rally with white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

The president insisted there was “blame on both sides” as he appeared to assert a moral equivalence between activists protesting racism and neo-Nazis carrying signs with swastikas and racial slurs during the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

His comments during an incendiary news conference on Tuesday won praise from David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader. Some leading Republicans rushed to denounce bigotry and hatred in all its forms, but only a few senior Republicans criticized the president directly – and some even defended him. Here’s a look at who said what.

Condemnation of Trump

Senator John McCain of Arizona

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina

“Mr President, I encourage you to try to bring us together as a nation after this horrific event in Charlottesville. Your words are dividing Americans, not healing them.

“Through his statements yesterday, President Trump took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally and people like Ms [Heather] Heyer. I, along with many others, do not endorse this moral equivalency.

“Many Republicans do not agree with and will fight back against the idea that the Party of Lincoln has a welcome mat out for the David Dukes of the world.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida

Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado

“The president should have immediately denounced the racism, the bigotry, the hatred that we saw in Charlottesville,” Gardner said at a town hall in Lakewood, Colorado. “The president should have done that immediately. and what he did today again goes back on what he said yesterday and that is unacceptable.”

Ohio governor John Kasich

“Pathetic, isn’t it?” Kasich said on NBC’s Today Show.

“This is terrible. The president of the United States needs to condemn these kinds of hate groups. The president has to totally condemn this. It’s not about winning an argument.”

Representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida

Condemnation of white supremacy

House speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

“The white supremacist, KKK, and neo-nazi groups who brought hatred and violence to Charlottesville are now planning a rally in Lexington. Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America,” McConnell said in a statement.

“We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred. There are no good neo-nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head.”

House majority leader Kevin McCarthy of California

Former presidents George H W Bush and George W Bush

“America must always reject racial bigotry, antisemitism and hatred in all its forms,” the former presidents said in a rare joint statement, going on to cite the one of the nation’s founding fathers, the third president Thomas Jefferson, who lived near Charlottesville.

“As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city’s most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country.”

2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney

Republican national committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel

“We have to unequivocally say that the KKK and the white supremacists were wrong. I do think people may have showed up in Charlottesville thinking ‘hey this is going to be a discussion about whether we remove historic statues.’ The second they saw Nazis flags, they should have turned tail .... There’s no good KKK member. There’s no nice neo-Nazi,” McDaniel told ABC News’ David Muir in an interview on Good Morning America.

“We don’t want your vote, we don’t support you, we’ll speak out against you,” she added.

“The president was saying that people brought violence from both sides. And violence isn’t OK, but the blame lays squarely at the KKK, the white supremacists, the neo-Nazis who organized this rally, caused violence and are pushing hate across this country.”

What happened in Charlottesville on 12 August?

White nationalists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest against a plan to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederacy’s top general in the American civil war.

Demonstrators chanted racist statements, carried antisemitic placards and held torches during the “Unite the Right” rally, which was organised by white nationalist Jason Kessler.

The march was met by anti-fascist demonstrators, and some skirmishes broke out before James Fields, 20, allegedly ploughed a car into a group of counter-demonstrators.

Civil rights activist Heather Heyer, 32, died and others were injured. Fields has been charged with murder.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas

“The Nazis, the KKK, and white supremacists are repulsive and evil, and all of us have a moral obligation to speak out against the lies, bigotry, antisemitism, and hatred that they propagate,” Cruz said in a statement on Saturday.

“Having watched the horrifying video of the car deliberately crashing into a crowd of protesters, I urge the Department of Justice to immediately investigate and prosecute this grotesque act of domestic terrorism.”

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky

“Our prayers go out for those who tragically lost their lives in Charlottesville,” Paul said in a statement. “Going forward, we must say to those who preach hatred – your time is over. This is not who we are, and we will not stand by while you divide us.”

Standing by Trump

Vice-president Mike Pence

“What happened in Charlottesville was a tragedy and the president has been clear on this tragedy and so have I,” Pence said during a press conference in Santiago, Chile.

“I spoke at length about this heartbreaking situation on Sunday night in Colombia and I stand with the president and I stand by those words.

“But today, while I am here in Chile, our hearts are in Charlottesville because just a few short hours ago family and friends gathered to say farewell to a remarkable young woman, Heather Heyer. And we’ve been praying, we’ve been praying for God’s peace and comfort for her family and her friends and her loved ones. And we’re also praying that in America that we will not allow the few to divide the many. The strength of the United States of America is always strongest as the president has said so eloquently when we are united around our shared values and so it will always be.”

GOP spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany

Representative Lee Zeldin of New York