Donald Trump retweets cartoon of CNN reporter being hit by train

Donald Trump retweeted a cartoon of a train hitting a CNN reporter, three days after a hit-and-run left one woman dead in Virginia.

The cartoon, which the US president deleted after sharing it, depicts the cable network logo being run down by a “Trump Train” that symbolises his supporters.

White House officials said the image, which was captioned “Fake news can’t stop the Trump Train”, had been "inadvertently posted" and when "noticed it was immediately deleted", the BBC reported.

It comes as the US leader also retweeted a man who called him a fascist in an apparent blunder that read: “@foxandfriends and @realDonaldTrump He’s a fascist, so not unusual.”

Heather Heyer, 32, died and another 19 were injured when a car rammed into people protesting against a far-right march in Charlottesville on Saturday.

Trump was criticised for not immediately or specifically denouncing the extremist elements of the weekend’s “Unite the Right” protest in his initial comments.

He later condemned the violence as “evil” and denounced white supremacists, saying: “Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”

But in his latest statement, he again blamed both the left-wing supporters and the far-right for the unrest.