Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., said Thursday that Republicans have to make their voices heard and condemn racism after the violence in Charlottesville.
"At times like this, we simply need to do the right thing. As the party of Abraham Lincoln we have to stand up and oppose this type of racism that we have seen coming out of Charlottesville," Dent said on CNN's "New Day."
"This issue is a real challenge for the president for a variety of reasons. During the campaign, he obviously made a number of incendiary comments about Mexicans, Muslims, the Indiana judge, there was that David Duke debacle during the campaign, and because of those previous statements, I think that has made issues like Charlottesville even more treacherous for the president because now there is a heightened expectation that the president [will] come out very forcefully and denounce this."
Dent previously chided President Donald Trump for his response to the incident, in which he blamed "both sides" for the violence, on Twitter.