“White nationalists, white supremacists, they’re not a part of anybody’s base. They’re not a part of this country. They’re a part of hatred, they’re a part of evil, and we need to stand up to that,” Gardner told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” during a discussion of violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

“Whether it’s the president of the United States, a senator from any of our great 50 states around the country, or our city councils and school teachers, call it for what it is. It’s hatred, it’s bigotry. We don’t want them in our base, they shouldn’t be in a base, they shouldn’t be claimed as part of a base, and it has to be made crystal clear,” he continued.