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Trump: Coverage of Catholic school students in viral encounter shows media's 'evil'

By CAITLIN OPRYSKO

President Donald Trump on Tuesday expressed hope that Catholic school students embroiled in a controversial viral video over the weekend would spin the incident into a unifying experience, holding up the students as victims of what he said was the news media’s “evil."

“Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good - maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!”

Sandmann and his classmates at Kentucky's Covington Catholic High School found themselves at the center of a nationwide controversy over the weekend when a video of Sandmann and others emerged on Twitter that appeared to show the teenagers, adorned in pro-Trump apparel, taunting a Native American elder on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

The students were in Washington for an anti-abortion rally, while the Native Americans were there for an march for indigenous peoples' rights. The incident drew widespread condemnation over the weekend, including from the Kentucky archdiocese that oversees the high school.

It was also heavily covered by news media before additional video emerged that gave the encounter more context. Other videos show that leading up to the standoff, the group of mostly white high schoolers as well as the Native Americans were being berated by a separate group of black protesters that hurled racial invective at the students.

Sandmann, who is prominently shown in the initial viral video standing face-to-face with the elder, Nathan Phillips, said in a statement to media outlets that he had received threats over the video, which he said unfairly portrayed him in a bad light.

The high schooler said that he and his classmates were trying to counter the taunts with “school spirit chants” when Phillips wandered into the fray with a drum and began to chant. While students in the video appear to be laughing and mocking Phillips, he disputed Phillips’ claim that some of the students yelled "build that wall" — a chant familiar at Trump campaign rallies — or “anything racist or hateful.”

The high school said Tuesday that it would close for the day for security reasons.

Many on the right have seized on the incident to accuse the media and opponents of the president of jumping to conclusions about the encounter based on what the students were wearing. Trump himself finally weighed in Monday night to declare that the students had been “smeared by the media.”