Mitch McConnell: 'We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups that are reportedly planning a rally in Kentucky are not welcome there and “should not be welcome anywhere in America.”

“The white supremacist, KKK, and neo-Nazi groups who brought hatred and violence to Charlottesville are now planning a rally in Lexington,” the Republican senator from Kentucky said in a statement. “Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America.”

McConnell did not mention President Trump by name, but he said there “are no good neo-Nazis” and that everyone has “a responsibility to stand against hate and violence.”

Trump drew strong criticism from senators and House members in his own party Tuesday when he doubled down on his controversial statements that “both sides” were responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday that resulted in a woman’s death. The woman, Heather Heyer, was protesting a rally by white supremacists and members of the KKK and neo-Nazi groups when she was killed by a man who plowed his car into people protesting the hate groups.

Trump said Tuesday that there were “very fine people on both sides.”

McConnell, who has been the target of scathing criticism from the president in the wake of the Senate’s recent failure to repeal Obamacare, said “we can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred.”

“There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms,” McConnell said. “We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head.”

McConnell also spoke out Saturday against the “hate and bigotry” in Charlottesville. White supremacist leaders have said they are considering coming to Lexington, Ky. to protest the proposed removal of two Confederate statues from a public park there.

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McConnell, accompanied by, from left, Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., John Thune, R-S.D., and John Ensign, R-Nev., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Jan. 27, 2009, after having lunch with President Obama. 
Lawrence Jackson, AP

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