Axelrod: Obama would have given eulogy for Charlottesville victim

Political strategist David Axelrod suggested Wednesday that former President Obama would have given a eulogy at the service of the woman killed in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend if he were still president.

“Is there any question that @barackobama would have delivered the eulogy at Heather Heyer’s service today on behalf of a riven nation?” Axelrod, a former top strategist for Obama, tweeted.

Is there any question that @barackobama would have delivered the eulogy at Heather Heyer’s service today on behalf of a riven nation?

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 16, 2017

A memorial service is being held Wednesday morning in Charlottesville for Heather Heyer, who was killed on Saturday when driver rammed into a crowd of counterprotesters gathered to oppose a white supremacist rally.

Trump said Tuesday that he has not reached out to the family of Heyer but said he plans to.

Trump called the driver of the car a murderer and said what he did was a “horrible, horrible inexcusable thing.”

The president also praised Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, after she thanked him for his “words of comfort” when he condemned on Monday the groups behind the rally.

“I thought that the statement put out, the mother’s statement I thought was a beautiful statement,” he said. “I’ll tell you — it was something that I really appreciated. I thought it was terrific.” 

But Trump ignited a firestorm Tuesday after he said during a defiant press conference that there is “blame on both sides” for the violence in Charlottesville.