‘Do You Condemn This Group?’ CNN’s Dana Bash Confronts Trump Official on White Nationalists Marching in DC

CNN’s Dana Bash confronted an official in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet about a white nationalist group which marched in Washington D.C. on Saturday.

In a pointed exchange on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Bash pressed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about the group Patriot Front — which marched in Washington while wearing masks amid July 4 celebrations in the district.

“Several hundred masked men belonging to the white nationalist group Patriot Front marched with Confederate flags,” Bash said. “And they did it through neighborhoods in the U.S. Capitol — at least near the Capitol — and they chanted, ‘Reclaim America.’ There’s a widely circulated photograph, I’m sure you’ve seen it, taken by Reuters, of an African-American woman on a subway surrounded by members of this group. Are you concerned about this?”

Burgum initially danced around the question.

“Well, I think we obviously, when we’re celebrating America — we’ve had an incredible celebration and we’ve got this is a kickoff of a celebration year — but we know from our very founding that this was something that divided our nation,” Burgum said. “Eighty-five years after those brave patriots signed the Declaration of Independence, we fought in the bloodiest war America’s ever fought, the Civil War. And…our nation survived thanks to the courage and leadership of Abraham Lincoln, and led us on a way as we continue to move forward as a country. We can be an exceptional nation because our ideals are exceptional, that all men are created equal.”

But Bash pressed him for an answer.

“Do you condemn this group and what they were doing, and most importantly, what they stand for?” Bash said.

“Well, I think that certainly what they stand for is nothing that I could possibly agree with,” Burgum responded. “But one of the foundational principles of the United States, which makes democracy messy, is free speech. And there are plenty of things that I see that I might personally find offensive and reprehensible. But in America, free speech is allowed, and this is by the whole spectrum of things.”

“As Interior Secretary, will you recommend to the President that he condemn this group?” Bash asked. “And what they were trying to message — what they did try to message here in Washington?”

“Part of my response to that is that there are protests on the Mall that people say things that I think are irreprehensible (sic) about President Trump, and yet they’re allowed to go on because of free speech in our country.”

Bash interjected.

“But this is white nationalism,” Bash said. “It’s, as you said, a part of America’s history that still has pockets. But the fact that they were here in Washington on such an important day, I do want to move on—”

“But I do think, again, there are people that are saying ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America,'” Burgum said. “This is part of free speech in America. They can say it, we can object to it, but it is something that comes with free speech in America.”

Watch above, via CNN.

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