Trump spokesman denounces racism amid ‘alt-right’ meeting

A spokesman for Donald Trump’s transition team sent a statement Monday night saying the president-elect condemns racism, following an “alt-right” conference over the weekend where white nationalists cheered his election.

{mosads}“President-elect Trump has continued to denounce racism of any kind and he [was] elected because he will be a leader for every American,” Bryan Lanza, a spokesman for the Trump-Pence Transition said in a statement, according to CNN.

“To think otherwise is a complete misrepresentation of the movement that united Americans from all backgrounds.”

The annual conference for the National Policy Institute convened in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, and president Richard Spencer reportedly addressed the crowd with “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!” according to The Atlantic.

The magazine characterized Spencer’s speech as anti-Semitic and noted that he referenced Nazi terms to attack the media.

“America was until this past generation a white country designed for ourselves and our posterity,” Spencer said to a crowd chanting Nazi salutes. “It is our creation, it is our inheritance, and it belongs to us.”

On Monday evening, a PBS Newshour producer said Spencer texted him to say the Nazi salutes at his speech were made “in a spirit of irony and exuberance.”

Richard Spencer just texted me that the Nazi salutes at his Sat speech were “clearly done in a spirit of irony and exuberance.”

— P.J. Tobia (@PJTobia) November 21, 2016

Earlier on Monday, a Washington area restaurant apologized after hosting an “alt-right” gathering and promised to donate proceeds to the Anti-Defamation League, which combats anti-Semitism.

The U.S. Holocaust museum, which is located in Washington, released a statement Monday condemning the “hateful rhetoric” at the gathering and called on Americans to “confront racist thinking and divisive hateful speech.” 

The US Holocaust museum has released a statement calling on all Americans to “confront racist thinking and divisive hateful speech” pic.twitter.com/im2m46t9dP

— David Mack (@davidmackau) November 21, 2016