Video with ‘White Power’ chant tweeted by US President Donald Trump, deleted later

President Donald Trump has tweeted approvingly of a video showing one of his supporters chanting “white power”, a racist slogan associated with white supremacists. He later deleted the tweet and the White House said the president had not heard “the one statement” on the video.

The video appeared to have been taken at The Villages, a Florida retirement community, and showed duelling demonstrations between Trump supporters and opponents. “Thank you to the great people of The Villages,” Trump tweeted on Sunday. Moments into the video clip he shared, a man driving a golf cart displaying pro-Trump signs and flags shouts “white power”.

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The video also shows anti-Trump protesters shouting “Nazi”, “racist”, and profanities at the Trump backers. Senator Tim Scott told CNN’s “State of the Union”, “There’s no question” that Trump should not have retweeted the video and “he should just take it down.”

Scott is the only Black Republican in the Senate. “I think it’s indefensible,” he added. Shortly afterward, Trump deleted the tweet that shared the video. White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that, “President Trump is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video. What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.”

The White House did not respond when asked whether Trump condemned the supporter’s comment. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, condemned Trump.

The former vice president tweeted, “We’re in a battle for the soul of the nation and the President has picked a side. But make no mistake: it’s a battle we will win.”