Hartford, Ct. – According to The Day, Republican Representatives Mike France and Doug Dubitsky are doubling down on President Trump’s claims that blame for violence in Charlottesville rests on “both sides,” rather than on the murderous neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Senator Paul Formica apparently doesn’t care enough to pay attention to this story, which has dominated both state and national headlines for a week, and Senator Art Linares can’t be bothered to comment.

“If the original protesters arrived at the Robert E. Lee statue and nobody else showed up, there would be no news today. Instead, both sides escalated the confrontation and those that could have reduced the tension or minimized the interaction between the two groups,” France wrote in a comment on his original Facebook post.
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France’s criticism of both sides of the conflict was shared by state Rep. Doug Dubitsky, a Canterbury Republican who also represents Chaplin, Franklin, Hampton, Lebanon, Lisbon, Norwich, Scotland and Sprague.
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Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, said he “hasn’t followed the news specifically about what actually took place” but “any hate activity is not and should not be tolerated in our society.”
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Sen. Art Linares, R-Westbrook, did not respond to requests for comment.

“The response from Connecticut Republicans on these horrendous events has been nothing short of shameful across the board,” said Connecticut Democratic Party Executive Director Michael Mandell. “Mike France and Doug Dubitsky are dead wrong. The blame does not rest on ‘both sides.’ It rests on the shoulders of the white supremacists who chanted Nazi epithets and murdered an innocent counterprotester. It should not be hard for Republicans – or any politicians – to disavow the president’s vile statements, but Connecticut Republicans have proven that they will defend Donald Trump above all else.

“Art Linares and Paul Formica deserve Profiles in Cowardice awards. Formica’s assertion that he hasn’t been paying attention is a cowardly excuse, and Linares’s silence speaks volumes. We won’t ask where their leader, Senator Fasano, is on this because we already know he refusesto take a stand, apparently out of deference to his political base.

“Silence or refusal to speak up against Donald Trump equals complicity, and these four GOP politicians have utterly failed.”