President-elect Donald Trump disavowed an alt-right conference in Washington, D.C. over the weekend led by Richard Spencer that celebrated the election of Donald Trump.
Asked directly about the event that was widely covered by the mainstream media, Trump replied, “I condemn them. I disavow, and I condemn.”
Trump denied that he had energized the alt-right, but again disavowed the movement.
“I don’t want to energize the group, and I disavow the group,” Trump said. “It’s not a group I want to energize. And if they are energized I want to look into it and find out why.”
Trump made his remarks during a personal visit to the New York Times, where reporters live-tweeted his remarks. The remarks about the alt-right were shared by New York Times media reporter Mike Grynbaum.
Trump separated former Breitbart Executive chairman Steve Bannon from the alt-right moment, insisting that his chief advisor was not a racist.
“I’ve known Steve Bannon a long time. If I thought he was a racist, or alt-right … I wouldn’t even think about hiring him,” he said.
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