Charlottesville mayor: Trump still hasn’t called

Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer (D) said Tuesday that he has not received a phone call from President Trump since violent demonstrations roiled the usually quiet college town on Saturday.

“He has not,” Signer said when asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper if the president had reached out. 

“I got a call on Saturday that he was going to call and an aide was in touch with me and said that I should expect a call, and that never came,” he added.

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Signer, however, said he was still open to speaking with Trump.

“I was asked on Monday — sitting down with our congressman here — asked if I would take a call from the president,” he said. “I said ‘of course, of course I would.’ And still have not heard.”

Trump is under fire for statements blaming the violence in Charlottesville equally on white nationalists who held a rally there and counterprotesters.

The president on Saturday blamed “many sides” for the mayhem, leading critics to urge him to directly call out hate groups for their role. Earlier Saturday, one woman died and 19 others were injured after a man with ties to racist groups allegedly plowed a car through a crowd of counterprotesters.

Trump on Monday said that “racism is evil” and specifically criticized neo-Nazis and the KKK for their part in the rally.

But on Tuesday during an impromptu press conference, he doubled down on his earlier remarks, arguing that “both sides” were responsible and appearing to equate white nationalists and counterprotesters.