Fox & Friends brought on a Republican and a Democrat to debate Confederate monuments. Instead, they joined together to condemn Trump.

What Fox & Friends anchor Abby Huntsman seemingly envisioned as a debate between the right and the left over the removal of Confederate monuments instead became a teary-eyed condemnation of President Trump's remarks about the recent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Democratic political analyst Wendy Osefo spoke first on Wednesday's episode of Fox & Friends, and she refused to reduce the discussion to the debate over Confederate statues. "It's beyond a monument. This is about hatred. This is about white supremacy," Osefo said. She noted how unsettling it was to hear the president not directly condemn white nationalists, but instead blame "both sides" for the violence.
Huntsman turned to Republican political analyst Gianno Caldwell for his opinion, echoing Trump's argument that there are "good people on both sides" and wondering how we can learn from history "if we tear everything down." But Caldwell didn't take the bait. "You know, I come today with a very heavy heart. Last night I couldn't sleep at all because President Trump, our president, has literally betrayed the conscience of our country," Caldwell said. "The very moral fabric in which we've made progress when it comes to race relations in America, he's failed us."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Both Osefo and Caldwell teared up as Caldwell continued speaking. He specifically called out Trump's claim at his "disturbing" press conference Tuesday that there were "some very fine people" marching alongside the white nationalist protesters. "Mr. President, good people don't pal around with Nazis and white supremacists," Caldwell said. "Maybe they don't consider themselves white supremacists and Nazis, but certainly they hold those views."
Anyone who defends Trump's remarks, Caldwell concluded, is "completely lost" and potentially "morally bankrupt."
Watch the gripping segment below. Becca Stanek
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Shadow Ticket: Thomas Pynchon’s first novel in over a decade
The Week Recommends Zany whodunnit about a private eye in 1930s Milwaukee could be the 88-year-old author’s ‘last hurrah’
-
Sora 2 and the fear of an AI video future
In the Spotlight Cutting-edge video-creation app shares ‘hyperrealistic’ AI content for free
-
Will Starmer’s India visit herald blossoming new relations?
Today's Big Question Despite a few ‘awkward undertones’, the prime minister’s trip shows signs of solidifying trade relations
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US