Trump Backs Covington Catholic Students in Response to Viral Video
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Social media caught fire over the weekend after video of a group of young men clad in MAGA hats appearing to surround and mock indigenous marchers in Washington, D.C., went viral. President Trump has since taken to Twitter to express his support for the young men.
The young men in the video are students from Covington Catholic High School of Park Hills, Ky., visiting D.C. to attend the pro-life march March for Life. The pro-life demonstration would precede the Women’s March and coincided with the Indigenous Peoples March. In the now-infamous and heavily circulated clip, the students appear to surround Elder Nathan Phillips with hoots, hollers, jeers and tomahawk chops as he looks onward, drumming stoically. The most recognizable face from the video belongs to Nick Sandmann, the MAGA hat-clad student seen staring at Philips from roughly a foot away.
While much of the media was quick to condemn the mockery and disrespect, some are arguing that such commentary is mischaracterizing the incident, including the president.
President Trump took to Twitter Monday night to express his support, arguing that the students of Covington were treated “unfairly” and “smeared by media.” He added via Twitter Tuesday morning, “Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be.”
Looking like Nick Sandman & Covington Catholic students were treated unfairly with early judgements proving out to be false – smeared by media. Not good, but making big comeback! “New footage shows that media was wrong about teen’s encounter with Native American” @TuckerCarlson
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019
Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be. They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good – maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019
Sandmann released a statement Sunday night depicting his side of the story. It has since been reported that Louisville-based public relations firm RunSwitch PR was enlisted to help devise the statement.
Just in: Statement of Nick Sandmann, Covington Catholic High School junior, about the event at the Lincoln Memorial: pic.twitter.com/PkuMh2cVZM
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 20, 2019
In a joint statement released Saturday, the school and Diocese of Covington said that they are investigating the incident and will “take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion.”