McMaster says the Charlottesville car attack 'meets the definition of terrorism'

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said Sunday what President Trump so far has not: that the lethal vehicle attack on a crowd of anti-racist demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, Saturday was domestic terrorism.

"I certainly think any time that you commit an attack against people to incite fear, it is terrorism," McMaster told ABC host George Stephanopoulos. "It meets the definition of terrorism."

"But what this is, what you see here," he continued, "is you see someone who is a criminal who is committing a criminal act against fellow Americans — a criminal act that may have been motivated, and we'll see what's turned up in this investigation, by this hatred and bigotry which I mentioned we have to extinguish in our nation."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Watch a clip of McMaster making similar remarks on NBC News below. Bonnie Kristian