"One by one, the US military's most senior leaders have publicly - and bluntly - repudiated the racist violence that plunged Charlottesville into chaos Saturday, declaring the nation's armed forces as being unequivocally against hatred," The Washington Post reported today.
Trump, just completing seven months in the White House, is under fire for his response to Saturday's clashes between far-right and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which he blamed "both sides" for the violence.
"You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent," Trump said. "I thought what happened was a horrible moment for our country, but there are two sides to every story," he said, triggering a national storm.
The backlash over his failure unequivocally to condemn racism and white supremacy, culminated in the dissolution of two key business advisory panels and an avalanche of condemnation from across the political spectrum.
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Joining other military leaders in their condemnation of the violence in Charlottesville, General Joe Dunford, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff said there was no place for "racism and bigotry" in the American military.
"I can absolutely and unambiguously tell you that there's no place for racism and bigotry in the US military or in the United States as a whole," he told reporters during a visit to Beijing.
Dunford is in China as part of the Trump administration's effort to drum up support for punitive actions on North Korea for its nuclear provocations.
Earlier, the Commandant of the US Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller said, "No place for racial hatred or extremism in @USMC. Our core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act."
"Events in Charlottesville unacceptable and musn't be tolerated @USNavy for ever stands against intolerance & hatred," he said.
He was joined yesterday by Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Mark A. Milley, Air Force Gen. Dave Goldfein and Chief of the National Guard Bureau Joseph Lengyel.
"The Army doesn't tolerate racism, extremism, or hatred in our ranks. It's against our Values and everything we've stood for since 1775," Milley tweeted.
Milley was adamant that nothing he is saying in his tweet is aimed at being political. "That is the furthest thing from my mind. I am not involved in domestic politics. I want good order and discipline in my ranks."
The military's five service chiefs had issued firm, forceful statements that stand apart from remarks made by President Trump, who faces deepening criticism for his repeated attempts to evenly distribute blame for clashes between white nationalists and the anti-fascist protesters who showed up to oppose them, the Post commented.
A woman died and 19 were injured when a car, which police said was driven by 20-year-old James Alex Fields of Ohio, a suspected Nazi sympathiser, slammed into people demonstrating along a crowded, narrow street near the University of Virginia.