After a weekend of criticism from across the political spectrum, President Trump read a prepared statement to amend his earlier comments on the violence in Charlottesville. “Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups.” Earlier, Trump had said, “We condemn in the strongest most possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.”

+ It’s up to each American to decide if they believe the presidential statement made Monday, or his initial statement, the policies pushed during several months in office, the years of campaign rhetoric starting with the racist birther conspiracy, and this morning’s Tweet attack aimed at the CEO of Merck who quit the White House manufacturing council to “take a stand against intolerance and extremism.”

+ Here’s my take: There’s a name for a person who fans the flames of racism, but only for personal gain: A Racist. Pick a side. Here are ten quick thoughts about Charlottesville.

+ VP Mike Pence took issue “with the fact that many in the national media spent more time criticizing the president’s words than they did criticizing those that perpetrated the violence to begin with.” In this case, the national media barely had time to keep up with all the critiques coming from leaders in the president’s own party.

+ Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer: “When you dance with the devil, the devil changes you. And I think they made a choice in that campaign, a very regrettable one, to really go to people’s prejudices, to go to the gutter.”

+ Vox: Unite the Right, the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, explained.

+ Dahlia Lithwick, Charlottesville resident, law journalist, and my good friend, on the day white supremacists marched on her hometown: “The Nazis may come to town, terrorize and threaten people with guns, even brutally murder a young woman. This president may fail to condemn it. But all right-thinking Americans will recoil in horror. And white supremacists will be replaced. There is no room for them here. On Saturday they were relegated to parking at the shopping mall and walking miles in the hot sun, in their sad supervillain Comic-Con outfits. Today they are already slinking back to their own homes, where they are also being replaced, by history, by moral justice, and by our children, who are growing up exactly where they belong, at home, irreplaceable, sacred, and, especially today, brave.”

+ “A judge has denied bail to James Alex Fields Jr., the suspect held in connection with the death of Heather Heyer, according to reports Monday.” Here are the latest updates from Buzzfeed.