German politicians accuse Trump of trivializing Nazi violence
Source: Reuters
AUGUST 16, 2017 / 5:56 AM / 24 MINUTES AGO
Michael Nienaber and Andrea Shalal
BERLIN (Reuters) - Senior German politicians on Wednesday accused U.S. President Donald Trump of trivializing violence by white supremacists in Virginia and called for a clear rejection of their ideology.
Governments could only win the fight against hatred, racism and anti-Semitism by rejecting such ideology and the willingness to use violence, said Martin Schulz, the center-left candidate for chancellor, adding that this applies to Germany and the United States.
"The trivialization of Nazi violence by the confused utterances of Donald Trump is highly dangerous," said Schulz, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD). "We should not tolerate the monstrosities coming out of the president's mouth," he told the RND newspaper group in an interview.
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Schulz is the main challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel at a Sept. 24 election. The SPD, junior partner in Merkel's grand coalition, trails Merkel's conservatives in polls. His comments were echoed by Justice Minister Heiko Maas, another senior member of the SPD.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-germany-idUSKCN1AW0WC