“Too little, too late, and half-hearted.”

That was my opening line in a Tuesday interview with Julia Hartley Brewer of talkRADIO about Donald Trump’s eventual reference to “racism” and white supremacy in the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend.

While Trump — after almost 48 hours — finally addressed the core issue, he did so grudgingly. Moreover, the statement was soon overshadowed by Trump’s priority on self-promotion of supposed economic success, his clash with the media, and his bitter denunciation of Kenneth Frazier, one of three executives to leave the American Manufacturing Council over Trump’s approach to Charlottesville.

Listen to Discussion

What does Trump do now to get political legitimacy? I think he’s crossed the line here.

Many Republicans were sticking with him despite the Russia investigation, despite not getting healthcare through, the issues with getting a budget through, the crazy statements he’s made in the past.

But when you see people on American streets with swastikas, when you see them doing the “Heil Trump” salute after “Heil Hitler”. When you see one of them ram a car into a crowd, killing a woman and injuring 19, and the President does not respond to any of those images….

It’s the symbolic moment that I think may resonate in America — amidst other matters — in the months to come.