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Charlottesville Victim's Mother on Trump: 'I'm Not Talking to the President Now'

August 18, 2017

The mother of Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old killed Saturday in Charlottsville, Va., said that she will not be talking to President Donald Trump following his comments Tuesday.

Susan Bro appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday where she spoke to co-host Robin Roberts about her daughter's death.

"This is new territory for you and for this to so tragically happen and bring your daughter and your family into the spotlight and people reaching out, including, we understand, that President Trump has reached out. Have you talked to him directly yet?" Roberts asked.

"I have not, and now I will not," Bo said. "At first I just missed his calls. The first call looked like it actually came during the funeral. I didn't even see that message. There were three more frantic messages from press secretaries throughout the day and I didn't know why. That would have been on Wednesday."

Heyer was killed on Saturday when a car, driven by a 20-year-old Ohio man, rammed into a group of protesters.

Bro went on to explain how she had been busy following the funeral resting, and attending meetings to establish a foundation in her daughter's memory. At that time, she she thought she would "get to him [Trump] later." She did not see Trump's comments made during Tuesday's press conference until Thursday night.

"I'm not talking to the president now," Bro said. "I'm sorry, after what he said about my child. And it's not that I saw somebody else's tweets about him. I saw an actual clip of him at a press conference equating the protesters like Ms. Heyer with the KKK and the white supremacists."

Roberts clarified that Bro had initially thanked Trump for his statement on Monday condemning white supremacists and the KKK, but that now she was switching her position because of his comments on Tuesday.

"Absolutely, you can't wash this one away by shaking my hand and saying, 'I'm sorry.' I'm not forgiving for that," Bro said.

Roberts asked Bro if there was anything that she wanted to say to the president.

"Think before you speak," Bro said.

Trump received backlash following Saturday's events after his initial response condemning violence in Charlottesville was criticized for referencing fault on "many sides." Many lawmakers and reporters thought Trump did not go far enough in condemning white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

While Trump's condemnation of racism and white supremacy was stronger in a statement made Monday morning, the backlash was reinvigorated after he doubled down on his original statement during Tuesday's press conference.