Kevin Lamarque
The White House is reportedly urging Republican lawmakers to defend President Trump as “entirely correct” in his assertion that Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville was partly caused by counter-protesters demonstrating against racism. In its daily “evening communications briefing” sent out to Republican members of Congress late Tuesday, the White House encourages members of the party to echo Trump’s stance on the matter, The Atlantic reports. “The President was entirely correct—both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility,” the memo reads, according to the report. The document goes on to accuse the media of “reacting with hysteria” to the idea that Saturday’s counter-protesters had instigated some of the violence, which left one woman dead and 19 injured. “We should not overlook the facts just because the media finds them inconvenient,” the document says, citing “cop killing and violence at political rallies” as examples of crimes by “extremists on the left.”