In Manhattan, Trump greeted by protesters, shouts of 'New York hates you'

An inflatable rat that looks like Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

President Trump's first official visit to his hometown since January's inauguration got off to a bumpy start, with thousands of protesters and a giant inflatable rat in his likeness waiting for him outside Trump Tower.

Many demonstrators carried anti-racism and anti-Nazi signs and there were chants of "New York hates you" and "You have blood on your hands." NBC News spoke with several people who said they came out to protest Trump's Saturday response to the violent events in Charlottesville, when he did not call out white supremacists, instead blaming "many sides." Dante Plush, a teacher from the Bronx, said white supremacists marching through Charlottesville shattered the "illusion of a post-racial America," adding that Trump "emboldened these people. It's another opportunity for groups like the KKK to be mainstream again."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.