US
President Donald Trump, speaks as he attends a meeting with EU
leaders at the European Council, in Brussels, Belgium Thursday
May 25, 2017.
Pool/Stephanie Lecocq
via Associated Press
President Donald Trump says he wants to end the
political unrest that has divided the US, but insisted that it
began before he took office.
During a meeting with network news anchors on Tuesday,
Trump said he believes heightened political division in the
country goes back to the Clinton administration.
He bragged that it was "much worse" during President
Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment.
President Donald Trump acknowledged the political division that
has roiled the US in the early years of his presidency, and said
he wants to do something about it.
During a meeting with network news anchors on Tuesday, Trump said
"I want to see our country united. I want to bring our country
back from a tremendous divisiveness." He insisted that the rift
developed "not just over one year, over many years — including
the Bush years, not just Obama."
Trump bragged that it was "much worse" during Bill Clinton's 1998
impeachment, according to an on-the-record excerpt of his
remarks. "So many of you are too young to remember that. I feel
too young to remember it, but I guess I'm not," the president
quipped.
Indeed, the US has deeply fractured along party lines since Trump
took office. His critics have blamed his rhetoric and policies
that have targeted immigrants, refugees, LGBTQ people, and
communities of color. Trump has also
gotten low marks for his fiery reactions to developments in
the Justice Department's investigation of Russia's meddling in
the 2016 US election.
It wasn't always like this. Despite what had been a bitter 2016
primary and an even tougher general election, when Trump won the
White House in November 2016,
he struck a conciliatory tone during his victory speech. "It
is time for us to come together as one united people. It's time,"
Trump said that night.
Experts and commentators are looking to Trump's first State of
the Union address on Tuesday night for possible cues that Trump
could pursue a more united front as president. But political
observers have warned that evidence of such a pivot requires a
change in practice and policy, beyond the president's annual
speech.
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