Trump just weighed in on the riots, and here’s what he—and everyone else—had to say

A few hours later.
 By 
Emma Hinchliffe
 on 
Trump just weighed in on the riots, and here’s what he—and everyone else—had to say
Mandatory Credit: Photo by AP/REX/Shutterstock (8992035d) White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., . Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and police dressed in riot gear ordered people to disperse after chaotic violent clashes between white nationalists and counter protestors Confederate Monuments Protest, Charlottesville, USA - 12 Aug 2017 Credit: AP/REX/Shutterstock

After hours of silence, President Donald Trump finally commented on the white nationalist rally and related violence happening in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday.

"We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for," the president tweeted. "There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!"

He added a second tweet soon after:

Trump tweeted after 1 p.m. on Saturday, almost two hours after Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville and the city determined the scheduled Unite the Right rally protesting the removal of Confederate monuments to be a form of unlawful assembly.

His tweet took a long time, and it came after Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and even First Lady Melania Trump had already commented.

Their commentary made the president's earlier silence particularly noticeable. And plenty of other people had their own reactions as well.

The White House has no official connection to the rally planned in Charlottesville, but many of the marchers were Trump supporters who praised the president while they waved Nazi and Confederate flags. One Twitter user captured video of marchers yelling, "Heil Trump."

Some of the violence in Virginia was between the white nationalist protesters and counter-protesters — perhaps why Trump's comment focusing on us all "[coming] together as one."

As J.K. Rowling said, hell of a day to forget how to tweet.

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Emma Hinchliffe

Emma Hinchliffe is a business reporter at Mashable. Before joining Mashable, she covered business and metro news at the Houston Chronicle.

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