President Donald Trump has tweeted approvingly of a video showing one of his supporters chanting “white power”, a racist slogan associated with white supremacists.
He later deleted the tweet and the White House said the president had not heard “the one statement” on the video.
The video appeared to have been taken at The Villages, a Florida retirement community, and showed rival demonstrations between Trump supporters and opponents.
“Thank you to the great people of The Villages,” Mr Trump tweeted.
He should just take it down.
Moments into the video clip he shared, a man driving a golf cart displaying pro-Trump signs and flags shouts “white power”.
The video also shows anti-Trump protesters shouting “Nazi”, “racist”, and profanities at the Trump supporters.
“There’s no question” that Mr Trump should not have retweeted the video and “he should just take it down” Senator Tim Scott told CNN’s State Of The Union. Mr Scott is the only black Republican in the Senate.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Trump deleted the tweet that shared the video.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that “President Trump is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video. What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.”
The president’s decision to highlight a video featuring a racist slogan comes amid a national reckoning over race following the deaths of George Floyd and other black Americans.
Mr Floyd, from Minneapolis, died after a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes.
Protests against police brutality and bias in law enforcement have occurred across the country following Mr Floyd’s death and there has also been a push to remove Confederate monuments, an effort Mr Trump has opposed.
Mr Trump’s tenure in office has appeared to have emboldened white supremacist and nationalist groups, some of whom have embraced his presidency.
In 2017, Mr Trump responded to clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white nationalists and counter-protesters by saying there were “very fine people on both sides”.
