Trump Swiftly Condemns Barcelona Terror Attack. Charlottesville? Not So Much.

He then promoted a fake story about mass murdering Muslims.

Matt Cardy/ZUMA

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With pertinent details still unfolding, President Donald Trump took to Twitter Thursday afternoon to condemn a terrorist attack in Barcelona, where a white van plowed through the popular tourist street of Las Ramblas, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 50 people. 

The president’s response to the Barcelona attack was far swifter than his delayed response to the white supremacist clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday and his initial failure to flatly denounce white nationalists. Instead, Trump blamed “many sides” for the violence.

Amid intense criticism over his equivocal remarks, Trump was forced to issue a stronger statement rejecting hate groups two days after the “Unite the Right” rally, where Heather Heyer was killed by a suspected white supremacist who drove through a crowd of counter-protesters.

By Tuesday, however, the president returned to his assertion that there were multiple sides to the violence, all but defending some white nationalists as “very fine people.” He also lashed out at reporters when asked why he did condemn white supremacists from the start, claiming he didn’t have all the “facts” to do so on Saturday.

“I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct,” he said. “Unlike the media, before I make a statement, I like to know the facts.”

Trump later followed up his condemnation Thursday with a second tweet that perhaps explains why the president was so quick to react to Barcelona and not Charlottesville. It should be noted that the story he cites below is fake.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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