Trump paints himself as the real victim of Charlottesville in angry speech
Speaking at a rally in Phoenix, president attempts to counter widespread, bipartisan condemnation of his response to far-right violence
• Trump heads to Phoenix for large rally but visit likely to increase tensions
Donald Trump has sought to portray himself as the true victim of the deadly events in Charlottesville, launching an all-out assault on the media and branding journalists who “do not like our country” as the true source of division in America.
At a rally in Phoenix, evocative of his populist election campaign, the US president attacked coverage of his response to the white supremacist violence and complained bitterly to his audience about how he had been treated.
He re-read three statements he made in the wake of the tragedy and, deploying authoritarian rhetoric, declared: “It’s time to expose the crooked media deceptions and to challenge the media for their role in fomenting divisions and yes, by the way, they are trying to take away our history and our heritage.” The crowd – some scowling, some laughing – turned and jeered at journalists in the media enclosure and chanted: “CNN sucks! CNN sucks!”
Even as he spoke protesters outside the Phoenix Convention Center had gathered to voice anger at his presence. Police used smoke bombs and teargas on the crowds after plastic bottles were reportedly thrown.
The rally was the latest example of Trump as a Jekyll and Hyde public performer, coming just 24 hours after a sober speech to the military setting out future strategy in Afghanistan.
On Tuesday he was back in his element, pugnacious and freewheeling, throwing red meat to an eager crowd. The arena, which has a capacity of 19,000, was mostly full of people waving signs saying “Drain the swamp”, “Make America proud again” and “Women for Trump”.
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.
The president caused outrage when, in a chaotic press conference at Trump Tower, he blamed “both sides” for the carnage in Charlottesville. On Tuesday night he insisted that he had in fact condemned hatred, bigotry and violence as well as neo-Nazis, white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan.
He took his first statement on Charlottesville from his pocket and told his audience: “You know where my heart is. I’m really doing this to show you how damned dishonest these people are … I don’t want to bore you with this but it shows you how dishonest they are.”
Trump proceeded to read out the remarks to polite applause, although he failed to repeat the inflammatory words he had used when he blamed “both sides”.
He repeatedly broke off from his teleprompter to call out “the failing New York Times” and Washington Post, which he branded “a lobbying tool for Amazon”. Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, bought the Post but the entities have no relationship.
But it was when the president mentioned CNN – “which is so bad and so pathetic and their ratings are going down” – that the crowd booed loudly and burst into a chorus of “CNN sucks!”
Trump even made reference to the former CNN contributor Jeffrey Lord, who was fired for tweeting the Nazi salute “Sieg Heil” at a liberal activist. “Poor Jeffrey,” the president said. “I guess he was getting a little bit fed up and was probably fighting back too hard and they said, ‘We gotta get out of here.’”
The president also mocked the protesters outside, claiming the turnout against Tuesday’s rally was lower than expected. He returned to a theme of moral equivalence for which he was criticised in the wake of Charlottesville: “You know, they show up in the helmets and the black masks. They’ve got clubs and they’ve got everything.
“Antifa!” he shouted – a term used to describe anti-fascist groups.
In a drawn-out performance piece, Trump read out his second and third pronouncements in the aftermath of Charlottesville, while throwing in that he lives “in a bigger, more beautiful apartment” than the elites aligned against him, “and I live in the White House too”.
Then came perhaps his key line: “The media can attack me but where I draw the line is when they attack you, which is what they do, when they attack the decency of our supporters. You are honest, hard-working, taxpaying Americans – and by the way, you’re overtaxed, but we’re going to get your taxes down – who love our nation, obey our laws and care for our people.
“It’s time to expose the crooked media deceptions and to challenge the media for their role in fomenting divisions and yes, by the way, they are trying to take away our history and our heritage. You see that. These are truly dishonest people. Not all of them. You have some very good reporters, you have some very fair journalists. But for the most part, these are really, really dishonest people.
“They’re bad people and I really think they don’t like our country. I really believe that. And I don’t believe they’re going to change and that’s why I do this. If they would change, I would never say it. The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself and the fake news.”
Trump then mocked the cameras in the arena, claiming they were turning off their red lights and stopping live coverage. “These are sick people. You would think they want to make our country great again and I honestly believe they don’t. If you want to discover the source of the division in our country, look no further than the fake news and the crooked media, which would rather get ratings and clicks than tell the truth.”
The crowd turned around several times to boo and shout epithets at the media. The tactic was similar to Trump’s last rally in West Virginia, when he sought to blame Democrats for the investigation into his campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia, and cast it as an attack on his own supporters. But he went on to praise conservative Fox News for “treating me fairly”.
Earlier, speakers at the rally had included the housing secretary, Ben Carson, who is African American, and Alveda King, the niece of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Prominent behind the speakers was an African American man wearing a T-shirt that said: ‘Trump & Republicans are not racist.’
During his sprawling 75-minute speech, the president turned to illegal immigration, a major issue for his base in Arizona.
He dropped a clear hint that he intends to pardon Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa county, over his conviction for breaking the law with immigration patrols.
He asked: “Do the people in this room like Sheriff Joe?” There was a roar from the crowd and chants of “Pardon Joe!” Arpaio was in the crowd.
Trump said: “Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? He should have had a jury. I’ll make a prediction. I think he’s going to be just fine. But I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy.”
In another startling moment, Trump, who hours earlier had visited the border at Yuma, threatened to shut down the federal government unless Congress provided funding for his promised border wall. He told the rally that he had a message for “obstructionist” Democrats. The House has passed a spending bill with funding for the border wall but it faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
“If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” he said. “We’re going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We’re going to get that wall.”
Trump accused Democrats of putting US security at risk by not supporting the proposal, one of his most popular campaign promises. The crowd erupted in cries of: “Build that wall!”
Trump also took swipes at Arizona’s two senators, Jeff Flake and John McCain, who have criticised him. He said that after his well-received address on Monday, he was told: “Please, please Mr President, don’t mention any names. So I won’t.”
He continued: “I will not mention any names – very presidential. And nobody wants me to mention your other senator [Flake], who’s weak on border, weak on crime. Nobody knows who the hell he is! See, I haven’t mentioned any names, so now everybody’s happy.”
On a night when he had brought his verbal machine gun, Trump also took aim at the Nafta trade deal with Canada and Mexico, which is being renegotiated. “Personally, I don’t think we can make a deal,” he said. “I think we’ll end up probably terminating Nafta at some point.”
