Donald Trump incited Charlottesville violence - Martin O'Malley

A leading US Democrat politician has accused President Donald Trump of inciting the violence which led to the death of an anti-racist protester.

Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a white supremacist drove a car into a crowd following a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Mr Trump was widely criticised for equating the actions of the protesters with the white nationalists, saying "many sides" were to blame for the violence.

Martin O'Malley, who unsuccessfully challenged for the Democrat presidential nomination last year, told Three's The Nation Mr Trump has provided a "platform for neo-Nazis, for anti-Semites and white supremacists".

"We've been in existence for 250 years and this is the first time we've elected a man like this," the former Governor of Maryland told interviewer Patrick Gower.

"Most reasonable people would look at the events [in Charlottesville] and see that this was the logical conclusion of giving cover and encouragement to people with that sort of hateful belief system."

He pointed the finger at Stephen Bannon too, who was until Saturday morning Mr Trump's chief strategist.

Mr Bannon made his name as the founder of alt-right website Breitbart News.

"That was the first time, and probably the last time we'll ever see a President of the United States appoint someone with that reputation and that ideological and racist belief system to be a chief advisor in our White House," said Mr O'Malley.

He said the pair used fascist tactics to win the White House.

"That didn't happen overnight. There was a drumbeat that many people ignored. It was an appeal to division and fear. It met, in many cases, all of the markers of what fascism is - an appeal to a militant white nationalism; a celebration of an aggressive masculinity; a vilification of the other, be they immigrants or people of colour.

"[Mr Trump] absolutely perpetuated this drumbeat. What many people saw as 'Make America Great Again', many others heard as 'Make America White Again'."

He doesn't expect Mr Trump to make it through a full presidential term, and has confidence authorities investigating him for alleged collusion with Russia prior to last year's election will make a move soon - at least sooner than his own colleagues in the Republican party will.

"Before you see an impeachment, I think you'll see criminal indictments."

Newshub.