In a segment on CNN’s The Lead this Tuesday, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) addressed president-elect Donald Trump‘s recent disavowing of his white supremacist supporters, equating them with Black Lives Matter by saying they’re just as “disgusting, for different ways.”
When host Jim Sciutto pointed out that Trump failed to disavow his white supremacist supporters earlier in the campaign, Duffy tried to redirect the blame into President Obama.
“My concern is that Barack Obama, when he had a chance, didn’t condemn the riots across America that were in protest of Donald Trump’s victory in the election or didn’t condemn ‘Black Lives Matter.’ It might have taken him time in your viewpoint or in another’s viewpoint, but he did the right thing,” Duffy said.
“You’re equating Americans protesting a politician with outright hate and bigotry from a group that was using the Hitler salute to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory and are nothing more than white supremacists?” Sciutto said incredulously. “I mean, that’s not a fair comparison.”
“No, no, no. Both are disgusting, for different ways,” Duffy replied.
“You’re putting them on equal footing? You’re putting political protests on a footing with white supremacists?” Duffy asked.
“Let me explain,” Duffy replied. “I think this is a horrible group, don’t share their values or their viewpoint. But you have people taking to the streets and damaging property, pulling people out of cars and beating them up, little girls getting beaten up in schools for supporting Donald Trump. This was violence on American streets. So they’re different kind of activity by each group, but both groups need to be condemned.”
Watch the exchange in the video below:
Featured image via YouTube screen grab
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