How many Americans will read this news item? Way too few. Here is Samuel Smith writing at the Christian Post:
WASHINGTON — A group of conservative black pastors and intellectual leaders on Monday defended President Donald Trump amid criticism of his initial response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend.
While some, like Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer, have claimed that there is a “direct line” between the events in Charlottesville and the choices Trump made in his 2016 presidential campaign, conservative African-American clergy members, scholars and political activists decried such an argument in a Monday press conference at the National Press Club.
Organized by The Center of Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit think tank founded by conservative political commentator and activist Star Parker, the press conference was originally scheduled for the purpose of praising the Trump administration’s plan to revitalize inner cities. But given the events of last weekend — where clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters became deadly — Charlottesville and the related issue of racial conflict dominated much of the talk in the news conference.
Parker and the various African-American leaders standing with her at the podium were asked whether it is “disingenuous to pretend that President Trump is not the driver for a lot of the division we see now in this country.”
The Rev. Derek McCoy, CURE’s executive vice president who also directs the CURE National Clergy Network, was the first to respond to the question.
“One thing you need to understand — you are saying that the president is the instigator and I think that is absolutely wrong. No, it is not disingenuous,” McCoy asserted. “The president made his comments and we are not standing up here to say that we are best friends with everything the president does but he is in an office that we all respect. … If we are looking about how we can move our country forward, we are trying to make sure that we do that collectively together.”
Read more: Christian Post
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