MS NOW’s Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels tore into the Trump administration after a top official refused to condemn a group of white nationalists who marched through the nation’s capitol last weekend. 

On Saturday, hundreds of men clad in khakis and white face coverings paraded through the streets of Washington carrying various flags, including the upside-down American flag and the Confederate battle flag, while chanting to “reclaim America.” The demonstration appeared to be associated with the white supremacist group Patriot Front. 

When Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was given a chance to comment on the march on CNN’s “State of the Union” the following day, the former North Dakota governor tried to downplay the troubling display, arguing it was an expression protected by the First Amendment.

“What they stand for is nothing that I could possibly agree with, but one of the foundational principles of the United States, which makes democracy messy, is free speech,” Burgum told Dana Bash on Sunday. The secretary also did not directly answer when Bash asked if he would recommend President Donald Trump publicly condemn the group and what it stands for.

“Part of my response to that is that there are protests on the mall that people say things that I think are reprehensible about President Trump, and yet they’re allowed to go on because of free speech in our country,” he said.

On Monday’s “The Weeknight,” Daniels said he was “not surprised” by the lack of condemnation from the administration.

“Donald Trump has always had an issue with condemning people he thinks might like him,” he said, adding that the group’s message to “reclaim America” is “very much a part of the zeitgeist” among the president’s supporters. 

“The Weekend” co-host then dismissed Burgum’s attempt to make the controversy a First Amendment issue.

“The question is not, ‘Are they allowed to say this?’ The question is, ‘Are they a part of your movement? Is that speech allowed in your movement? Is it allowed in this administration? Does it represent your views?’ And they have not been able to say no,” he said. 

Daniels also spoke about a now-viral photograph showing a Black woman on Washington public transit surrounded by members of the white nationalist group.

“[That photo] is going to be one of those in 50 years kids are going to be looking at in history books,” he said.

“Just like we looked at the pictures of the ’50s and ’60s of Black kids walking around being yelled at,” he added. “I think that kind of picture shows exactly how our this administration works and how this country works at this point.”

Sanders Townsend also weighed in, calling the photo “a representation” and “physical manifestation” of the “tension that has always been a part of America’s story.” The MS NOW co-host referenced the country’s history of racial discrimination, stretching from slavery to the Ku Klux Klan to more modern white supremacist groups like Patriot Front. She observed that “they have traded out the hoods and torches for khakis and white ski masks.”

“We’ve always been asking ourselves questions from the founding of this country of who gets to belong, who is American,” Sanders Townsend said.

You can watch the full segment from “The Weeknight” in the clip at the top of the page.

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