Trump Says ‘Very Fine People’ Among White Supremacists At Charlottesville
President Donald Trump.
President Trump on Tuesday said both sides were to blame in the clashes in Virginia over the weekend, adding that protesters on the political left violently attacked white nationalists.
Trump had been sharply criticized even by some Republicans for his initial comments blaming “many sides” for the violence in Charlottesville.
But he effectively doubled down on that narrative Tuesday, equating the far right protesters with those who opposed them.
“They came at each other with clubs … it was a horrible thing to watch,” Trump told reporters in response to questions in the lobby of Trump Tower, before adding that left-wing protesters “came violently attacking the other group.”
Trump says there were “very fine people” on both sides of the Charlottesville protest, including the white supremacists who organized the rally to oppose the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Asked about violence from the so-called “alt-right” that had occurred, Trump bristled.
“What about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right?” He then asked, “Do they have any semblance of guilt?”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
