President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted approvingly of a video showing one of his supporters chanting "white power," a racist slogan associated with white supremacists. He later deleted the tweet and the White House said the president had not heard "the one statement" on the video.
The video appeared to have been taken at The Villages, a Florida retirement community, and showed dueling demonstrations between Trump supporters and opponents.
"Thank you to the great people of The Villages," Trump tweeted. Moments into the video clip he shared, a man driving a golf cart displaying pro-Trump signs and flags shouts 'white power." The video also shows anti-Trump protesters shouting "Nazi," "racist," and profanities at the Trump backers.
"There's no question'' that Trump should not have retweeted the video and "he should just take it down," Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told CNN's "State of the Union." Scott is the only Black Republican in the Senate.
Shortly afterward, Trump deleted the tweet that shared the video.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that "President Trump is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video. What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters." The president's decision to highlight a video featuring a racist slogan comes amid a national reckoning over race following the deaths of George Floyd and other Black Americans.
