(15 Mar 2019) President Donald Trump is downplaying the threat of white nationalism in the aftermath of a self-described racist's shooting rampage at a pair of New Zealand mosques.
Trump, speaking in the Oval Office Friday, answered "I don't, really" when asked if he felt that the racist movement was a rising threat around the world.
He said that it was "a small group of people that have very, very serious problems."
Trump added that the shooting in Christchurch was "certainly a terrible thing."
An immigrant-hating white nationalist killed at least 49 people gathered for weekly prayers in a live-streamed attack. Another 48 people suffered gunshot wounds.
The alleged gunman, in a rambling manifesto, deemed Trump "a symbol of renewed white identity."
The president said he had not seen the manifesto.
Trumps remarks came after he issued the first veto of his presidency, overruling Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding.
A dozen Republicans joined with Senate Democrats on Thursday to back the joint resolution disapproving of Trump's emergency declaration.
Asked if he understood those Republican Senators' positions, the president said he didn't pressure anyone to vote his way.
"I didn't need the vote because we all knew it's going to be a veto, and they are not going to be able to override," he said.
The House had passed the same resolution last month largely along party lines.
It is unlikely that Congress will have the two-thirds majority required to override Trump's veto.
Trump wants to use the emergency order to redirect billions in federal dollars earmarked for military spending toward the southern border wall. It still faces several legal challenges in federal court.
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