GOP lawmakers react to Trump: “very fine people” don’t participate in rallies with racist chants

For 24 hours, Republicans in Congress thought they were in the clear — President Donald Trump had answered their calls and condemned by name the neo-Nazi hate groups who participated in a violent white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Then on Tuesday, the president held a press conference that sounded largely like a defense of the alt-right and participants of the violent rally, prompting a number of top Republican legislators to admonish him once again.

It only took a day for Trump to soften his Monday condemnation of white nationalists and neo-Nazi groups — a statement he gave after outrage that his initial comments did not go far enough.

But on Tuesday, Trump made it clear that he did not see a white supremacy rally, and a domestic terror attack in which a Nazi sympathizer purposely drove into a crowd of counter-demonstrators, as a one-sided issue.

“Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me,” Trump told reporters. “Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. ... There are two sides to a story.”

The comments sparked outrage on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) criticized Trump for again not unequivocally calling the events in Charlottesville an act of terrorism, going further to say that the president’s “two-sided” approach to blame would be seen as a win for groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH), the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the official campaign arm for House Republicans, issued a statement questioning why Trump has flip-flopped on the issue so many times.

“I don’t understand what’s so hard about this,” he said.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), the House majority whip who is still recovering after he was shot at a congressional baseball practice earlier this summer, reiterated his statement about bigotry:

Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), who has been very vocal against Trump in the past, took apart the president’s specific words.

So far, there has yet to be a strong call from congressional Republicans for any action against Trump — whatever that would look like — outside of censuring statements.

As the events in Charlottesville rippled through Capitol Hill over the weekend, it became increasingly evident that among congressional Republicans, Trump’s initial blunder was no different from his past scandals — whether the Russia allegations, his ethics violations, or White House shake-ups.

On Monday, it was clear the GOP wouldn’t support the president’s actions but would continue to support his presidency. It’s not clear whether this time will be any different.