Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters the chancellor strongly opposed the rallies’ ideology and supported those who peacefully stood up against far-right views. Such hateful beliefs are “completely contrary to what the chancellor and the German government works for politically,” Seibert added. Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn went further, taking aim at U.S. President Donald Trump for his muted response to the violence incited by the white supremacist gathering. What happened “was the [Ku Klux Klan] and its supporters, white supremacists, arrived in Charlottesville in order to cause trouble,” Corbyn said. “Surely every president of every country in the world ... should be able to condemn that.”Trump has been widely criticized for his statement on Saturday that condemned violence “on many sides,” and made no mention of the far-right, white nationalist nature of the rallies.

Source: Huffington Post August 14, 2017 16:42 UTC