Smucker on Charlottesville violence: 'horrifying' and 'unacceptable'
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker said going from visiting a Holocaust museum in Jerusalem to coming home and seeing Nazi flags in Charlottesville was "horrifying."
In a call with reporters Tuesday, he also criticized President Donald Trump's initial reaction to the violence in Virginia, saying the president's forceful condemnation of the white supremacists should have come sooner.
Smucker's comments came before Trump spoke again about the incident late Tuesday afternoon, when he once again blamed "both sides" for the violence Saturday.
After Trump's latest comments, Smucker seemingly referred to the president's new statements in a tweet, stating, "Those who march under Nazi flags or with KKK-affiliated groups are not 'fine people.'"
Smucker was at the tail-end of his first international trip as a congressman when the white supremacist rally in Virginia resulted in three deaths on Saturday.
The violence spurred strong public statements from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and many criticized Trump's initial reaction as not being explicit enough in condemning the hate groups.
Smucker said he was traveling in Israel with other members of the delegation when the events were unfolding and was trying to stay up to date on what was happening.
After returning early Monday morning, he issued a brief statement on his campaign Twitter account Monday afternoon and then expanded on his thoughts with reporters Tuesday.
"It was really horrifying to come back to what had happened in Charlottesville, which was absolutely unacceptable," said Smucker, whose trip included a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum.
"We can't tolerate what really were horrendous acts of racism, displays of white supremacy and the idea of Nazi flags being waved. It just simply is unacceptable."
The congressman said Trump "clearly disavowed white supremacy or Nazi-affiliated groups" in his brief speech Monday.
But Smucker also said "it would have had a much greater impact had he said that sooner. I think the public needs to hear from our president in a time like this.
Smucker's comments came shortly before Trump held a news conference in New York, in which he defended his initial reaction to Saturday's racial unrest in Charlottesville and said "there is blame on both sides."