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In a statement on August 14, the president had condemned white supremacists.
However, in New York on August 15, Donald Trump also blamed left-wing supporters for charging at the “alt-right”.
The president’s latest comments drew swift criticism, including from many in his Republican party.
Many echoed Senator John McCain’s view: “There is no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate & bigotry.”
The right-wing march had been organized to protest against the proposed removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, who commanded the pro-slavery Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The event drew white supremacy groups.
Violence broke out after they were confronted by anti-racism groups. A car ploughed into one group of anti-racism protesters, killing Heather Heyer, 32, and injuring 19 others.
Speaking at the White House on August 14, President Trump had said that the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists were “repugnant” to everything Americans held dear.
However, at a bad-tempered press conference at Trump Tower on August 15, Donald Trump reverted to blaming “many sides” for August 12 violence.
“You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now,” he said.
“What about the alt-left that came charging… at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? (…) There are two sides to a story.”
President Trump called the driver of the car that ploughed into the anti-racism protesters a disgrace to himself and his country, but said that those who had marched in defense of the statue had included “many fine people”.
He also asked whether statues of former presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson should also be torn down, because they had been slave-owners.
President Trump’s remarks were welcomed by David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who tweeted: “Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa.”
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