Trump Blames ‘Both Sides’ For Charlottesville — Again
Image by Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Thursday stood by his belief that both sides were to blame for violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12 between white supremacists and counterprotesters.
Trump had drawn criticism for not initially condemning white supremacists who organized the event with even some of his fellow Republicans expressing dismay at his opinion.
Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One a day after a meeting with South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott, an African-American who had expressed concern about Trump’s comments.
“We had a great talk yesterday,” he said of his meeting with Scott. “I think especially in the light of the advent of antifa, if you look at what’s going on there. You have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also. And essentially that’s what I said.”
Trump said anti-fascist groups known as the “antifa” must share blame for neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan fighting with anti-racism protesters in the streets. One woman was killed when a suspected white nationalist crashed his car into demonstrators.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
