President Trump will probably go down in history as one of the most outspoken world leaders ever.

That being said, his outspokenness is not absolute or consistent.

Timeline for Donald Trump

Topics such as North Korea lead the president to furiously spit words like “fire and fury like the world has never seen”, and daughter’s clothing line being dropped from a department store upset him so greatly that he tweets:

But Trump can’t always be depended on for being bold and blunt, especially when it doesn’t suit him.

This weekend the president attracted criticism after condemning the far-right, white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia as “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides”.

He then went on a complete tangent.

The president discussed how “our country is doing so well in so many ways”.

He appeared to draw equivalency between fascists and those protesting against them. He then began talking about trade deals and employment ratings.

He was eventually able to describe the events in Charlottesville as “sad”.

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We have so many incredible things happening in our country, so when I watch Charlottesville, to me it’s very, very sad.

His response to the events was so weak-willed that one self-described neo-Nazi publication, the Daily Stormer, was pleased he didn’t condemn fascists at all:

In all his communications about the situation in Charlottesville so far, Trump has never used the words “neo-Nazi”, “fascist”, “racist” or any terms that unequivocally condemn the far right for their part in it.

The president’s refusal to refer to the event as domestic terrorism has led to criticism from both Democrats and prominent Republicans:

The criticism of Trump has reached such a fever pitch that the White House has been forced to respond with a statement claiming that Trump meant to condemn the far-right, despite not actually mentioning them:

The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred. Of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups.

The note at the end of the statement referencing ‘all extremist groups’ is a noteworthy deflection. It goes without saying that all extremism should be condemned but Charlottesville represents a specific brand of extremism that should be focused upon.

It’s almost as though, in a conversation about oranges and nothing but oranges, Trump had decided to mention watermelons.

Of course, Trump’s tepid condemnations and generally slow response shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

The president has been infamously silent or slow to respond to other events that have taken place on his watch. Islamophobic and anti-Semitic hate crimes have been ignored, Gay Pride Month didn’t warrant a single tweet, and even former FBI director James Comey’s testimony didn’t prompt a response from the president.

On the other hand, Trump has been active on Twitter regarding the following issues

The New York Times

The candidate who he beat in the election months before

 

The president who preceded him (notably no longer in office) 

Arnold Schwarzenegger

His daughter, Ivanka 

The so-called fake news mainstream media (condescended for time)

 

A terminally-ill baby whose condition had made international headlines

A newsreader who’d been less-than-flattering in her descriptions of him

His own Twitter account 

Attacking the mayors of cities in foreign countries and mourning the loss of all lives (not just American ones)

His official accommodation

His favourite TV programme

Sporting events

His close pal, Sean Spicer

People he has named “ungrateful traitors”

Expert political insight

Totally missing the point of Earth day

Mysterious announcements

Snoop Dogg

Protests against him

Covfefe (note that the original tweet was deleted)

Will the far right be the next on Trump’s list of things to condemn?

We wouldn’t count on it…