In a press conference following the world premiere of his new film “BacKkKlansman” at Cannes on Monday, iconic director Spike Lee launched into an F-bomb-riddled rant about President Donald Trump, whom Lee accused of having failed to denounce white supremacy following the deadly riot in Charlottesville.
“That motherf***er was given a chance to say we are about love, and not hate, and that motherf***er did not denounce the motherf***ing Klan, the Alt-Right, and those Nazi motherf***ers,” said Lee, Variety reports. “It was a defining moment, and he could’ve said to the world … that we were better than that.”
Lee was referencing Trump’s much-analyzed and widely-criticized response to the Charlottesville riot, where white supremacist groups clashed with Antifa members, culminating in one suspected neo-Nazi deliberately driving his car into counter-protesters, killing a peaceful anti-fascist protester.
While Lee says Trump did not condemn the “hate,” Trump did repeatedly denounce all acts of hate; however, Trump did not initially condemn white supremacists specifically, choosing instead to denounce acts of hatred and violence from “many sides.”
“We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!” Trump tweeted in the immediate aftermath of Charlottesville.
Trump addressed the tragedy at greater length in a statement at his golf club in Bedford, New Jersey. “We condemn in the strong possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” he said, repeating the phrase “on many sides.”
After backlash for what critics said was a deliberate attempt to avoid denouncing white supremacist groups, Trump addressed the issue again a few days later, this time condemning by name the KKK, neo-Nazis, and other white supremacist groups.
“Racism is evil,” Trump said in a press conference two days after the riot. “And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including KKK, Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, and other hate groups are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans. Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America.”
Lee’s film, based on the true story of a black police detective who was able to infiltrate the Klan in the 1970s, reportedly received a 10-minute standing ovation following its screening.