between 2015 and 2016 is the country saw a 197% increase in anti-muslim hate groups and a 23% increase in neo confederate groups. hate groups are unfortunately nothing new in the u.s. or the world and for some who lived through world war ii the recent rise in violence and division is chilling. this afternoon i talked to a holocaust survivor who said the events in charlottesville struck a frightening cord for him. who is part of my conversation with george wolf. when you see that, what do you think? it s upsetting. there s no question about it. it s upsetting. is history doomed to repeat itself? can it repeat itself? history doesn t repeat itself entirely. they say first it repeats itself as a strategy and then as
ourselves to the presidency becoming trump like. trump needs to be presidential or we need to deal with him as the officer that he has now as the chief executive officer of this country. reverend al sharpton. thank you vich for joining me today. thank you. coming up, president trump spoke out more forcefully today against white nationalists, but concerns remain about some members ties to those groups. so should there be a west wing shake up. more on that coming up. don t let dust and allergens get between you
racist violence, you will be held fully accountable. justice will be delivered. as i said on saturday, we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. it has no place in america. welcome back. that was president trump speaking earlier today on events this weekend in charlottesville with more detail than his remarks on saturday. joining me now is richard painter. he was the white house chief ethics lawyer under president george b. bush and now serves as vice chair for citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington. richard, thank you very much for joining us. your reaction to the president coming out and speaking a little bit more forcefully today when it comes to hate groups. well, that s better than what he said before. but we need actions, not words. we need a fundamental
i was very proud to stand with my leadership against groups of i hate. but do more. we pulled our dmunt together and said we re not them, none of us. that s what the president needs to do next. denounce denounce denounce. i think it s admirable pull the country together. the political discourse of blame and hate has got to stop. let s talk about what we re zbloot let me ask you one more question before we have to go. it s admirable that you were able to do that for yourself and that s great. i want to ask you about hold on, about mark san ford, your colleague and what he toll the washington post back in may. and i m going to read it to you. he said respectfully, i d like to submit that the president has unearthed some demons. i ve talked to a number of people about it back home. they say well, look, if the president can say whatever, why can t i say whatever? he s given them license. so do you believe that the president of the united states has given them license as your
he condemned, quote, many sides. so today after days of mounting political pressure, the president again addressed the violence. this time naming the groups in his condemnation. racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs. including the kkk, neo nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as americans. so, yes, president trump did name check the hate groups, but he failed to denounce their support of him and in a second on camera appearance today it was pretty clear the president considers this conversation over. mr. president, can you explain why you did not condemn those hate groups by name over the weekend? they ve been condemn. they have been condemned. another note worthy omission, president trump didn t use the word terrorism, something members of his own party are