Today in 5 Lines
President Trump specifically denounced “the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups” for inciting violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend—two days after he gave a statement condemning violence “on many sides.” Trump attacked Kenneth Frazier, the CEO of Merck pharmaceuticals, on Twitter, after the executive announced he was resigning from a position on the president’s Manufacturing Jobs Initiative to “take a stand against intolerance and extremism.” He also sent a robocall in support of Alabama Senator Luther Strange, a day ahead of the state’s GOP primary. The FBI arrested a man for attempting to detonate what he thought was a bomb outside a bank in Oklahoma City. Trump told Fox News that he is “seriously considering” pardoning former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of disregarding a judge’s order to stop conducting anti-immigrant traffic patrols.
Today on The Atlantic
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‘The Statues of Unliberty’: There are currently eight statues memorializing Confederate leaders at the National Statuary Hall Collection on Capitol Hill. The same lawmakers who condemned the actions of white supremacists over the weekend have the power to remove them. (Matt Ford)
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What Comes Next: A series of upcoming alt-right rallies will reveal whether or not the movement has been reinvigorated after the events that transpired in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. (J.M. Berger)
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Will Alabama Listen to Trump?: Tuesday’s Republican primary in Alabama has become a test of Trump voters’ loyalties—complicated by the mixed messages the president has sent in recent days. (Molly Ball)