President Trump's impromptu press conference on Tuesday made some waves, but so did Politico's transcript of his comments, which originally contained this line: "Okay, what about the alt-left that came charging at us — excuse me — what about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right?" That seemed to suggest that Trump had made a Freudian slip, or perhaps a Kinsley gaffe, identifying himself as a member of the so-called alt-right. But Politico has since updated the transcript to the more accurate: "Okay, what about the alt-left that came charging at [indiscernible]."
BuzzFeed's Claudia Koerner looked into what Trump really said, noting that the official White House transcript just reads "charging at — excuse me," while the one from the Federal News Service quotes Trump as saying, "charging at them," not us. You can listen for yourself, near the beginning of the CNN clip.
"BuzzFeed News reviewed video of the press conference, and though the audio is muffled, it does sound like Trump is saying 'them,'" Koerner concluded. So if you are going to be outraged by Trump's statements on the Charlottesville violence, you can channel your ire toward the idea that in 2017, we have to have a national conversation about whether Nazis and white supremacists hold defensible beliefs. CNN's Jake Tapper has your answer below. Peter Weber