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Donald Trump insists race relations in the US have 'gotten better during his presidency'

He claims that things are going to get better as a result of jobs, too

Clark Mindock
New York
Tuesday 15 August 2017 22:23 BST
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White supremacists and protesters clashed in Charlottesville over the weekend
White supremacists and protesters clashed in Charlottesville over the weekend

Donald Trump says that he thinks race relations in the United States have become better during his presidency — or they at least haven’t gotten worse.

“They’ve gotten better, or the same — look, they’ve been frayed for a long time,” Mr Trump said when asked if he had improved race relations in light of the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Mr Trump continued to say that race relations were bound to get better because the economy under his watch has been strong, and that he expects more jobs that could smooth things out further.

The statement came just days after a violent clash between far-right groups protesting the removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville, and counter protest groups. Those clashes culminated in the death of one woman, after a driver smashed through a counter protest group on the streets. Nineteen others were injured by the vehicle.

Mr Trump’s political career has notably drawn frequent criticism for what many see as a racist tone. He largely built his political persona up by questioning the legitimacy of Barack Obama’s claims that he was born in the United States. Instead, Mr Trump theorized that Mr Obama was born in Africa (he later admitted Mr Obama was born in the US, which he was).

The President’s seeming embrace of that sort of rhetoric — and other, similar statements — has appeared to emboldened far-right groups, including the ones who attended the rally over the weekend. In attendance at the rally to protest the removal of the statue were the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke and white supremacist Richard Spencer.

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