White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon has termed the white nationalists who, rallied in Charlottesville as 'clowns' and 'losers'.
"Ethno-nationalism - it's losers. It's a fringe element. I think the media plays it up too much, and we gotta help crush it, you know, uh, help crush it more . These guys are a collection of clowns," the Independent quoted Bannon as saying in an interview with a magazine The American Prospect.
Bannon also expressed hope that the left's focus on racism would allow him to "crush the Democrats".
"The longer they talk about identity politics, I got 'em. I want them to talk about racism every day. If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats," he said during the interview.
Banon's remarks come following turmoil in the United States after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent.
One woman was killed and several of her fellow counter-protesters were injured when a car plowed through a crowd.
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The protests were initiated by the city's government decision of removing the confederate past, including a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
In the days following the incident, President Donald Trump in a press conference, defended some of the white supremacy rally's participants, made the case for Confederate statues and equated neo-Nazis to leftist activist groups.
"This week, it is Robert E. Lee and this week, Stonewall Jackson. Is it George Washington next? You have to ask yourself, where does it stop?" Trump said.
The U.S. President emphasised that both sides of the clashes contributed to the violence which happened in a white supremacists rally in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.
Trump had condemned the violence in Charlottesville, saying that "the hatred and division in the America must stop as we are all Americans first."
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides," he had said during a short statement, adding that he had been closely following terrible events unfolding in Virginia.
Mentioning that the current unfolding of events in Virginia is not linked to his presidency, Trump said, "It has been going on for a long time in our country - not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America."
"Hate and division in the country must stop. No matter our colour, creed, religion, our political party, we are all Americans first," he said, adding that he'd like for his administration to "study" why such violence is occurring.