Black Democrats vow to fight 'racist' Trump policies: 'People in the White House should not be white supremacists'

The violence and blood in Charlottesville have become the final straw for members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who are now calling action to remove “racism” from the White House.

Donald Trump once asked black voters for their support, posing the question: “What have you got to lose?” For black members of Congress, their constituents apparently have quite a bit to lose — and are starting a #RootOutRacism campaign to fight back.

“The people that work in the White House should not be white nationalists or white supremacists,” Cedric Richmond, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told reporters. Steve “Bannon is gone but you still have [Stephen] Miller and [Sebastian] Gorka, and that still sends a horrible message, and anyone else in the White House who shares those views.”

The strong comments come following the events in Charlottesville, in which white supremacists were seen marching with torches and chanting antisemitic statements. A woman was later killed by a white supremacist after violent clashes between demonstrators and counter-protesters, who had shown up to push back on the ideologies of the far-right demonstrators. The woman was a member of those counter-protestors.

In the week after the violence there, former White House strategist Steve Bannon — a former executive at conservative outlet Brietbart, and a leading nationalist voice in the West Wing — resigned. Many on the left cheered the White House’s loss of its most high-profile ally to white nationalists, but Mr Gorka and Mr Miller remain, and are considered to be cut from a similar ideological cloth to Mr Bannon.

Mr Richmond was joined by several other members of Congress in announcing the #RootOutRacism campaign. They plan to fight against “racist and discriminatory policies including voter suppression, the use of private prisons, and the travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries.

The country is in “a crisis of leadership,” Mr Richmond said. And, the President hasn’t proven that he has the temperament to govern. Mr Richmond said that it is also an appropriate time to discuss potential impeachment of the 45th president.