U.S. President Donald Trump hit back on Thursday at critics of his response to racial violence in the Virginia city of Charlottesville, and defiantly reiterated his opposition to the removal of monuments to the pro-slavery Civil war Confederacy.
Trump has been engulfed in controversy, strongly rebuked by members of his own Republican Party and snubbed by a string of American business leaders, over his reaction to the unrest in Charlottesville on Saturday.
In a series of Twitter posts on Thursday, Trump showed no sign of backing down.
He criticized efforts in a growing number of U.S. states, including Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, to remove statues honoring Confederate leaders.
Earlier, President Trump took a swing at his favourite punching bag today, claiming his comments about the deadly violence in Charlottesville were misrepresented by media.
"The public is learning (even more so) how dishonest the Fake News is. They totally misrepresent what I say about hate, bigotry etc. Shame!," the US president wrote on Twitter.
One protester was killed in violent clashes between neo- Nazi and so-called "Alt-Right" demonstrators and counter- protesters in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville Saturday.
Both Democrat and Republican politicians criticized Trump's initial response -- when he condemned violence "on all sides" -- as inadequate.
On Monday he singled out the Klu Klux and neo-Nazis as "repugnant," but on Tuesday he returned to his original position and said there had been "blame on both sides." Trump's weak condemnation of the racist far-right set off a political firestorm across the US political spectrum. World leaders also criticized Trump's response.
The US president also took aim at two fellow Republican senators, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona.
Heather Heyer, 32, was killed in Charlottesville on Saturday when a suspected white nationalist drove his car into a crowd protesting the far-right march.
"Such a disgusting lie," Trump said. "He just can't forget his election trouncing. The people of South Carolina will remember!"
Trump appeared to be referring to his defeat of Graham in last year's presidential primary.
Graham had said the US president "took a step backward" Tuesday "by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally" and people like Heyer.
Trump also blasted Flake, one of the few Republicans openly critical of the president.
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