Trump can't stop blaming 'both sides' for the violent Charlottesville rally

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump, whose comments about "both sides" being in the wrong at a violent white supremacist rally in Virginia last month caused an uproar, revisited his remarks on Thursday, saying he was right to call out the "bad dudes" in the anti-fascist (antifa) movement.

After counter-protester Heather Heyer, 32, was killed at the rally in Charlottesville, Trump condemned the violence, blaming "many sides." At a later press conference, Trump said "not all those people were neo-Nazis, not all those people were white supremacists. You had people that were very fine people on both sides." When asked Thursday about his meeting Wednesday at the White House with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), where he discussed the country's history of racism with the only black Republican senator, Trump told reporters they had a "great talk," and launched into a rehash of his earlier controversial comments.

"I think especially in 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, adding that "a lot of people are saying and people have actually written, 'Gee, Trump may have a point.' I said there's some very bad people on the other side also." A spokesperson for Scott told The Guardian that the senator had been "very, very clear" with Trump "about the brutal history surrounding the white supremacist movement and their horrific treatment of black and other minority groups. Rome wasn't built in a day, and to expect the president's rhetoric to change based on one 30-minute conversation is unrealistic."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.