GOP Sen. Scott: Trump’s ‘moral authority is compromised’

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said that President Trump has lost “moral authority” in a new interview published Thursday.

In an interview with Vice News about the events in Charlottesville, Va., and the president’s response, the Senate’s lone black Republican criticized his party’s leader for blaming “both sides” for the violence that left one counterprotester dead and dozens wounded on Saturday.

He told the news outlet that Trump’s widely criticized press conference from Trump Tower on Tuesday “erased” the strong language that Trump used the day before to condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

“I’m not going to defend the indefensible … [Trump’s] comments on Monday were strong,” Scott said. “[But] his comments on Tuesday started erasing the comments that were strong.”

Scott argued that Trump had “compromised” his “moral authority” and that of his office by equivocating on who should be blamed for the violence and urged the president to speak more “clearly” on the issue.

{mosads}According to Vice, Trump hasn’t reached out to Scott to discuss the racial violence in Charlottesville.

“What we want to see from our president is clarity and moral authority,” Scott said. “And that moral authority is compromised when Tuesday happened. There’s no question about that.”

In the wild impromptu press conference Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his claims that “both sides” deserved blame for violence by white nationalists in Charlottesville, a claim he first made on Saturday. This reversed course from his Monday statement that condemned the white nationalist groups that hosted the rally in the college town.

“What about the alt-left that came charging at the — as you say, the alt-right?” Trump asked reporters at Trump Tower.

“Do they have any semblance of guilt? What about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as I am concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day.”