Commentary:

I think it's safe to say that Trump's tweet is in response to the Cassidy/Cruz resolution and Cassidy's appearance on Fox & Friends.

From the research I've done, it appears as though the U.S. government does not make public a list of officially-designated U.S. domestic terrorist organizations. Instead, racist and white supremacy groups are labeled as "hate groups". So, it's unknown if groups like the Atomwaffen, the KKK, the Proud Boys, and similar groups are officially designated as domestic terrorist organizations.

Cruz called ANTIFA "intolerant radicals". ALL people should be intolerant of racism. To suggest that ANTIFA is somehow "outside the norm" because they are "intolerant" is ridiculous and very concerning.

The resolution describes ANTIFA as "suppressing opposing political ideologies". Is that what hate, racism, and white supremacy are, just "political ideologies"? Are these "political ideologies" the opposing "views" Cruz's speaks of? Are groups such as the "American Nazi Party", "Atomwaffen", the "Aryan Brotherhood of Texas", "Aryan Nations", the "Ku Klux Klan", the "Proud Boys", the "White Aryan Resistance", and the rest of the long list of white supremacy groups nothing more than opposing "political ideologies"?

Even the term "white nationalist" implies racism. Any way you slice it, racism is at the core of what these groups stand for. Racism is a sickness, not a political ideology. It's a cancer. It's a spiritual aberration. It's a misguided belief that you are somehow better than someone else simply because of the color of your skin, your ethnic origin, or where you were born. It's morally wrong, and like the cancers that invade our physical bodies it must be strongly opposed.

The bottom line is that ANTIFA is not the problem. The problem is the groups they fight against. By singling out ANTIFA and not calling out racist and white supremacy groups is nothing more than a way of deflecting attention from the groups they oppose. Where is a resolution condemning and listing the atrocities, murders, and lynchings carried out by the KKK over the past 150 years? Where is the resolution calling for recently formed white supremacy groups like Atomwaffen, the Proud Boys, and others to be designated as domestic terrorist organizations? Why is it we don't hear much about them? Sadly, the silent Republicans in Congress who refuse to speak out about Trump certainly don't want any attention given to any of THOSE groups for fear of the political consequences.

Commentary:

That's a lot of information to unpack, but let's start with Charlottesville. Trump has been criticized for not taking advantage of a golden opportunity with Charlottesville to immediately call out groups like the KKK, Neo-Nazis, and other white supremacy groups. And rightly so. The issue of racism and white supremacy goes back many, many years in the history of the United States. It's still an issue today, and the people who are part of it are a true "cancer" within our society.

On that Saturday in Charlottesville, any reasonable, rational president would have immediately condemned all forms of racism and white supremacy in the strongest terms, but that's not what Trump did. Instead, he said there was "hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides." The REAL cancer in our society is all the people who are racist and who believe in white supremacy. The people who fight against them are not the core problem - they are simply a response to hate. Trump's comment makes the two groups seem equivalent, which is ludicrous, and it makes any reasonable, rational person wonder who's "side" he's really on.

Two days later on August 14, after considerable political criticism, including some from his own party, Trump read a prepared statement. In that statement, only two sentences mentioned anything about racist, hate, or white supremacy groups. Of course, Trump must have felt pressure to say more than he did two days prior, and to try to repair the political "damage" he had done, so one can hardly give him much credit for those two sentences.

The next day, speaking at Trump Tower, Trump said there were "very fine people, on both sides." There is fierce controversy as to what exactly Trump meant by this. If you read through all his remarks at Trump Tower, it's clear that Trump's justification for his words is that it was his belief that there were some people at the rally that were not associated with any particular white supremacy group - people who were there only to protest against the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee - and it's those people he was referring to.

According to an article entitled "Trump's new defense of his Charlottesville comments is incredibly false" the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, held in August of 2017 "was explicitly organized and branded as a far-right, racist, and white supremacist event by far-right racist white supremacists." The article goes on to give very compelling evidence to support this. Another article entitled "Trump Didn't Call Neo-Nazis 'Fine People.' Here's Proof." disputes the claim that Trump was referring to white supremacy groups.

You can read the articles as well as the transcript of Trump's remarks, but regardless of your conclusion, on this one Trump is at best "treading on thin ice", and at worst making a moral equivalency between racist, white supremacy groups and groups that oppose them - hardly a fair and reasonable comparison. It's Trump job as president to speak clearly and NOT say things that are ambiguous, and this is where he seems to get himself into trouble and "make his own bed" time and time again.

On July 17 at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Trump repeatedly says ANTIFA are "bad people". He said that five times. He also said those people are "sick" once, and "very evil" once. Trump then goes into detail (along with a lot of other "bluster") saying that ANTIFA use bats and sticks to hit innocent people. When has Trump ever gone into this much detail, and with this much passion and urgency, calling out racism and white supremacy groups? Where was this passionate, forceful Trump during Charlottesville? The man who drove his vehicle into a crowd of people at Charlottesville, killing one person and injuring 19 others, is now convicted and behind bars for the rest of his life. Why hasn't Trump issued a forceful, passionate statement about that?

According to research conducted by the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism (p. 16), from 2009-2018, 73.3% of extremist-related murders were committed by right-wing extremists, compared to 3.2% committed by left-wing extremists (23.4% committed by Islamic extremists).

History shows that racism and white supremacy groups are the core problem, not the groups that fight against them. ANTIFA exists for one reason only: to fight against the hate, racism, and bigotry of white supremacy groups. The spotlight, emphasis, and political discourse should be focused on white supremacy groups, NOT groups who fight against them.

And then Trump wonders why so many people think he's a racist. Again, all I can do is shake my head in disbelief. Again, it shows that Trump truly does live in his own little "fantasy world". Again, it shows that Trump has no business in the White House.

Commentary:

Regarding Trump's address on the El Paso and Dayton shootings, if you watch the address his delivery is not very convincing. It was void of emotion and honestly did not come off as very sincere. I'm not saying Trump is lying or isn't concerned - obviously he is. But is THIS the best the president can do immediately after two back-to-back mass shootings that killed and injured so many innocent people? Where is the energy, the passion, the "fire", and the conviction he exhibits when he's railing about some issue or group at his campaign rallies (like he recently was against ANTIFA)? If you're trying to convince someone you're sincere and you mean what you say, you better show some emotion. And if you don't, then guess what? Don't be surprised if a lot of people seriously question your sincerity.

And, let's be clear. The president HAD to make a statement about the mass shootings. He was forced by circumstances to address what happened. To not address the nation after such a catastrophic weekend of slaughter would have been political suicide. And, because the El Paso shooter said he was specifically targeting "Mexicans" Trump HAD to say something about racism and white supremacy.

Regarding Trump's statement that he thinks his rhetoric "brings people together", WOW is all I can say. If you ever needed more evidence that this man is living in a fantasy world, THIS is it. This is the most divisive president in my lifetime, by far, and I'm no "spring chicken". After all of the divisive, highly controversial, border line racist and outright racist things Trump has said and done over the past 2-3 years now can he make a statement like this? It defies reality, really, but then, Trump doesn't live in reality, so I guess it makes sense, right? He lives in a world where HIS facts, HIS ideas, and HIS assessments are always correct, and everything else is fake news.

Regarding Tucker Carlson, well, there's that "hoax" word being used again - this time with respect to white supremacy. And to say that white supremacy is "not a real problem" in America? Are you kidding me? Carlson said this just four days after the El Paso shooting, which was racially motivated. Racism and white supremacy are essentially the same thing, and lots of people died and were injured in El Paso because of it. Do you think the parents, siblings, and friends of Heather Heyer, the woman who was killed by a car driven by a white supremacist in Charlottesville agree with Tucker's words? What do you think all of the other people who were injured in Charlottesville would have to say about what Tucker said?