Police arrest a protestor in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017. Photo courtesy of Virginia State Police/Twitter.Police arrest a protestor in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017. Photo courtesy of Virginia State Police/Twitter.
Windsor

Windsorites Weigh In On Trump, Virginia Violence

Canadians are providing insight into how last weekend's violence in Virginia was handled.

BlackburnNews.com hit the streets of downtown Windsor Wednesday, stopping into some eateries at lunchtime to get Windsorites' take on the violence and U.S. President Donald Trump's response to it. Trump has been criticized by people in both U.S. political parties for his initial response to the uprising in Charlottesville, as well as remarks made in a press conference Tuesday where he stated that "both sides" were responsible for the violence.

The Unite the Right rally, held at the home of the University of Virginia, was marked with clashes between white nationalist groups and counter-protesters. One woman was killed and 19 were hurt Saturday when a car was driven into a crowd. Two Virginia troopers also died when their helicopter crashed while on a public safety support assignment related to the protests.

At Café March 21 on Pelissier St., Katie says she thinks the president's response to what happened should have been more immediate and not pulled any punches.

"Addressing what happened for what it is and not sugar-coating it, and not trying to get in anybody's back pocket and not trying to make it seem better than it is or that it's OK and it's not that big of a deal. I think that's where it should've started, it should've been an immediate no," says Katie.

She also thinks that Trump's more recent response to the incident was not very presidential.

"From a Canadian's perspective, by a human being's perspective, it's not something you would ever expect the president to say," says Katie. "Someone who is literally leading their country and leading by example."

Meanwhile, at Toasty's on Ouellette Ave., Denise believes the president is engaging in too much double-talk.

"He contradicts himself a lot," says Denise. "He's a hypocrite, he is a racist himself, I think, so everything that he says I don't believe."

In a recent Pew Research survey, just 22% of Canadian respondents have a good perception of Trump's ability to handle world affairs. This is a precipitous drop from 2016, the final year of Barack Obama's presidency, during which 83% of respondents had confidence in the White House's ability.

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