April Ryan: Black journalist singled out as 'enemy' in Trump campaign video released after Charlottesville violence

A black journalist has been singled out as an "enemy of the White House" in a new campaign video for Donald Trump only a day after a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virgina, turned violent.

The video released by Mr Trump's official campaign and his reelection committee aims to highlight some of the US President's achievements during his time in office.

But its release also coincides with a huge backlash over Mr Trump's response to the Charlottesville' protest in which he refused to single out and condemn the violence by white supremacists, neo-Nazis and members of the KKK who descended on the city on Saturday.

The video called "Let President Trump do his job" flashes small pictures of a dozen journalists hitting out at "the media attacking our President" and making references to "the President's enemies" who "don't want him to succeed".

This includes a picture of journalist April Ryan, a veteran White House correspondent for the American Urban Radio Networks and a political analyst for CNN.

Ms Ryan, who is black, responded to the video in a tweet in which she slammed the "racial hate" promoted by the Trump campaign team and added she had been singled out as "an enemy of the White House".

She said: "Sad day I am singled out as an enemy of the White House as this racial hate is going on just for asking real questions and speaking truth."

Alexis Simendinger, the White House correspondent for Real Clear Politics also pointed to the racial tone of the video.

In a tweet, he said: "Trump campaign ad incl. images of African-Americans as "enemies". Journalist @AprilDRyan is included. STOP."

This is not the first time Ms Ryan has been embroiled in a row with the White House, opening a debate over the Trump administration's attitude towards gender and race.

In March, Ms Ryan, who is known for asking tough questions, squalled with then White House secretary Sean Spicer during the daily briefing.

Mr Spicer cut off her questions and chastised her for what he deemed an inappropriate shake of her head when she asked a question about the Russia investigation.

In February, Ms Ryan was also asked at a news conference whether she should arrange a meeting between Mr Trump and the Congressional Black Caucus, suggesting the group members were friend of the journalist because she was also black.

This latest campaign video was released as the White House insisted Mr Trump has been calling for "national unity and bringing all Americans together" and that he did not want to explicitly condemn white supremacists to avoid "dignifying" their politics.

President Trump condemned Saturday's "violence on all sides" rather than directly taking aim at the far-right protesters, some of who are his supporters.

The protest turned deadly when a car ploughed into a group of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. The crash resulted in 19 people being injured and the state governor declaring a state of emergency.

Mr Trump's campaign video also attacks congressional Democrats, the media and "career politicians" for "standing in the way of success".

It goes on to claim that "President Trump's plan is working", adding that one million new jobs have been created, unemployment is shrinking, the stock market is high and the military has been strengthened.

However Mr Trump has had little success in the legislative chambers so far, despite the Republicans being in control of both chambers.

Last month, Mr Trump failed to secure enough support in the Senate to deliver on his campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.