Ryan: I think Trump is ‘disgusted’ by white supremacists

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday that he believes President Trump is “disgusted” by white nationalists and neo-Nazis, and that the president’s statements in the wake of violent protests in Charlottesville, Va., last month were, for the most part, appropriate.  

“I really think he’s disgusted by these people,” Ryan said in an interview with The New York Times. “And from the conversations I’ve had with him, I know he’s disgusted by these people. I mean, good grief, his kids, his grandkids are Jewish.

“So I think he’s disgusted by these people,” he added. “And I think he made the right statements — I don’t remember the days — on Monday and Thursday, but not on Tuesday.”

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Trump sparked an intense public furor last month for his equivocal statements on violent white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, in which he denounced violence on “many sides” and said there were “very fine people” among the white supremacists protesting.

One person was killed and 19 others were injured amid the demonstrations when a car allegedly driven by an Ohio man with ties to neo-Nazi groups plowed through a crowd of peaceful counterprotesters.

Trump condemned the groups the following Monday, but in an off-the-rails news conference a day later, Trump appeared to equate the white nationalist protesters with the counterdemonstrators who had turned out to oppose them. 

The president’s comments drew backlash from both Republicans and Democrats, who urged him to unequivocally condemn white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other hate groups.