President Trump on Friday defended his Charlottesville response a day after former Vice President Joe Biden made them a focus of his 2020 announcement.
Trump was asked whether he still believes there were "very fine people" on both sides of the 2017 Charlottesville protests, which drew white nationalists and neo-Nazis, one of whom injured dozens of people and killed a woman, Heather Heyer.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
The president went on to say that Lee was a great general "whether you like it or not" and that he's heard the same from "many generals" at the White House who said he is their "favorite."
Biden in his 2020 announcement video had hit Trump for his 2017 comments that there were good people on both sides of the rally, saying the president "assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it." Brendan Morrow
Trump defended his response to the violence in Charlottesville in 2017 when he said there were “very fine people on both sides.”He said the was talking about people who “felt very strongly about the monument to Robert E. Lee. A great general, whether you like it or not.” pic.twitter.com/fulPWpY4zC— POLITICO (@politico) April 26, 2019
-
Government shutdown: why the Democrats ‘caved’In the Spotlight The recent stalemate in Congress could soon be ‘overshadowed by more enduring public perceptions’
-
5 hilariously mouthy cartoons about MTG’s feud with TrumpCartoon Artists take on Greene's space lasers, hell freezing over, and more
-
Crossword: November 22, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
