The White House defended President Donald Trump's Sunday tweet that included a video of his supporters yelling the phrase "white power" at protesters at a Florida retirement community.
On Sunday morning, President Donald Trump retweeted a video that was reportedly taken at The Villages, a large retirement community in central Florida. At one point in the video, a man in a golf cart adorned with Trump flags yells "white power" at anti-Trump demonstrators.
The protesters can also be heard in the video shouting profanities at Trump supporters and also calling Trump a "Nazi" and "racist."
Trump included a message in his retweet of the video, writing, "Thank you to the great people of The Villages." The tweet was live for more than three hours before it was deleted from his feed.
Though the tweet was deleted, it sparked condemnations from some members of his own party. Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, called Trump's endorsement of the video "indefensible."
In a statement on Sunday evening, White House spokesperson Judd Deere defended the president's actions, saying that he "didn't hear" the racist language used in the video.
"President Trump is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video. What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters," Deere said, according to CNN and The Associated Press.
