WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for national unity as he addressed veterans at Reno in the U.S. state of Nevada, a day after he emphasized divisions at a rally in neighboring Arizona.
"We are here to hold you up as an example of strength, courage and resolve that our country will need to overcome the many challenges that we face," Trump said at a rally held by the American Legion, a service body for wartime veterans.
The remarks came on the heels of a campaign rally in Phoenix where Trump stoked divisions and lashed out at media and members of his own party.
But in contrast, Trump suggested Wednesday that "it is time to heal the wounds that divide us and to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us."
He said the American people are "not defined by the color of our skin, the figure on our paycheck or the party of our politics," but by shared humanity, citizenship, and love.
Trump's tone was markedly different from what he said at the Phoenix rally on Tuesday when he began with talks of unity but quickly erupted in anger.
Last evening, he defied advice from his aides to stick to the script and renewed his fights with the press over their coverage of his responses to clashes between far-right demonstrators and their opponents in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month.
The decision by Charlottesville's city council to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a local public park sparked a white supremacist rally on Aug. 12 that later turned into violent clashes between rival protesters.
A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a sports car driven by a suspected Nazi supporter plowed into a crowd protesting white supremacism. Two state troopers also died on that day in a helicopter crash after helping monitor the rally, demonstrations, and clashes.
Trump at first blamed "many sides" for the Charlottesville violence and corrected his comments to condemn white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan after two days. He responded last week for the third time to the violence by saying "there's blame on both sides," which drew a bipartisan backlash and wide criticism.
He lashed out at "dishonest" media for not covering "fairly" as he tweeted and "weak" political leaders who move to take down Confederate monuments on Tuesday.
"They're trying to take away our culture. They're trying to take away our history," Trump told supporters in Phoenix.
On Wednesday, Trump appeared to have followed his script closely and did not mention the statues at all, only saying "history and culture, so important," despite that about 1,000 protesters gathered outside the Reno-Sparks Convention Center.
In a congenial manner, Trump even thanked Senator Dean Heller, a Nevada Republican repeatedly feuded with him, a day after he blasted Arizona's two Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake at the Tuesday rally, albeit that their names were not mentioned.
He said Tuesday he showed a "very presidential restraint" for not bringing up any name, a suggestion made by his aides who were concerned that Trump would pin the blame for GOP's failed attempts to push forward a health care reform on McCain and label Flake as weak on law enforcement and immigration.
"Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border," Trump said of Flake who faces a tough re-election next year in a tweet on Wednesday morning.
