James Murdoch criticises Donald Trump's Charlottesville response

James Murdoch, the CEO of 21st Century Fox, has condemned US President Donald Trump's response to neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville.

"These events remind us all why vigilance against hate and bigotry is an eternal obligation – a necessary discipline for the preservation of our way of life and our ideals," Murdoch wrote in an email to colleagues published by the New York Times. "The presence of hate in our society was appallingly laid bare as we watched swastikas brandished on the streets of Charlottesville and acts of brutal terrorism and violence perpetrated by a racist mob."

He then took aim at Trump's highly controversial response to the violence, in which the President said that "many sides" were to blame.

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"What we watched this last week in Charlottesville and the reaction to it by the President of the United States concern all of us as Americans and free people."

The memo continued: "I can't even believe I have to write this: standing up to Nazis is essential; there are no good Nazis. Or Klansmen, or terrorists. Democrats, Republicans, and others must all agree on this, and it compromises nothing for them to do so."

Murdoch also pledged to donate $1m to the Anti-Defamation League, an organisation that helps fight anti-Semitism.

Fox News has supported Trump throughout his presidency, and Murdoch is the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who acts as an informal advisor to the US President, CNN says. Many Twitter users pointed out the hypocrisy of the younger Murdoch's statement: