Stacey Dash’s Remarks About White Supremacists Stun Reporter

 

GOP House hopefull Stacey Dash was asked to weigh in on President Donald Trump’s remarks about the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., last summer. And her response likely raised not just MSNBC host Ari Melber’s eyebrows, but those at-home viewers, too.

In August, Trump said there was “blame on both sides” of the rally which saw white nationalists protest the removal of a Confederate statue, which was backed by counterprotesters.

“I think he’s absolutely right,” Dash says on “The Beat with Ari Melber” Thursday, March 8. “There were two extreme sides. And here’s what it boils down to. Our right. They had a right to assemble. Both sides had a right but there were two extremes.”

After Dash mentioned how important it is that white supremacists and counterprotesters “listen to each other,” Melber asked about the “hate that would be equivalent to that on the other side?”

The “Dash to D.C”. runner said “there should be no hate at all” and explained the president wasn’t siding with the white supremacists. Then, when asked if she supported Trump’s statement that there were good people on both sides of the violence, Dash remained neutral.

“I’m not here to judge,” she says. “The only one who can judge is God. Do I know every person in the Neo-Nazi party, if they have a Good heart or not? No, I don’t. Do I know every person in a gang, if they have a good heart or not? No, I don’t. Do I know every heart of a man in prison, if he has a good heart or not? No, I don’t. I’m not here to judge.”

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top