Democrats Divided on How to Exploit Trump's Charlottesville Gaffes

The Democrats' attempt to exploit President Donald Trump's unpopular response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia has the party divided over the best strategy to do so, Politico reported on Tuesday.

Many Democrats say staying focused on Trump's claim that "many sides" were at fault in Charlottesville is more productive than concentrating on the question of whether to take down Confederate monuments.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, for example, has downplayed the issue of the statues while accusing Trump and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon of "trying to divert attention away from" their own stances on white supremacist groups.

Instead, Schumer has urged his party to focus on voting rights, concentrating on an effort to get rid of Trump's "election integrity panel," which Schumer called a "ruse" meant only "to disenfranchise voters," according to The New York Times.

But other Democrats, such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, are keen to press the issue of the monuments, and she has gone full speed ahead in trying to get Confederate statues removed from the Capitol, Politico reported.

A senior Senate aide emphasized to Politico that it "It would be a mistake for Democrats not to confront discrimination wherever it appears, in the wake of Charlottesville. Focusing on just one area lets many others go unchecked."

Some in the party say a strategy such as Pelosi's, however, is not only wrong, but will lead to the Democrats transmitting the incorrect message that could boomerang and fire up the GOP base.

These different messages also could also dilute a unified message and prevent Democrats from winning political capital over the issue, according to the Times.

Even with the disagreements, however, Democrats appear determined not to let Charlottesville fade into the background and are pushing for votes on fighting domestic terrorism and hate crimes, as well as other moves, in order to pressure Republicans to repudiate Trump.

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