In a short speech addressing the violence in Charlottesville on Saturday, President Donald Trump boasted about the state of the economy before denouncing the events in Virginia that left one protester and two state troopers dead.

The president called the KKK and other white nationalist groups “repugnant” and said racism is “evil,” after several days of criticism even from members of his own party.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of racist, bigoted violence. It has no place in America,” Trump said today, reading from a teleprompter. “No matter the color of our skin, we all live under the same laws. We all salute the same flag. We are all made by the same almighty god.”

“To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend’s racist violence, you will be held fully accountable,” Trump said. The term “racist” is one that the president has avoided using throughout his campaign and presidency.

This morning, Trump has been tweeting about the economy and “bad trade deals,” and slamming a pharmaceutical executive who resigned from the American Manufacturing Council over opposition to the president’s failure to immediately denounce white supremacism. Trump began his statement this afternoon by discussing jobs and the economy before segueing into the Charlottesville incident.

Since Saturday, Trump has been widely condemned for his late and tepid response, in which he invoked “violence on many sides.” Later, White House officials condemned the KKK and neo-Nazis, but only on background.

Many commentators questioned why Trump had not spoken out more strongly on Saturday, or otherwise expressed their skepticism about the speech.

The White House pool report notes that the president declined to answer any shouted questions at the end of his remarks, including several about whether he regretted waiting until today to denounce racism.

Watch the full statement from Trump below:

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