Trump Blames 'Both Sides' For
Charlottesville
By
Noah Bierman
August 15, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- President Trump’s planned
infrastructure announcement unraveled
into chaos as he all but erased any
credit he got on Monday for condemning
white supremacists for the deadly
confrontation in Charlottesville, Va.
Trump said it was “a horrible day” but
said several times that
counter-protesters were not getting
enough scrutiny for their role in the
confrontation and emphasized his belief
that many of the protesters who joined
with white nationalists were innocent.
“What about the 'alt-left' that came
charging at, as you say, the
'alt-right'? Do they have any semblance
of guilt?” Trump said. “They came
charging with clubs in their hands,” he
said of the counter-protesters.
Trump effectively reopened the debate,
despite insistence from politicians in
both parties that white supremacists and
other racists deserved to be singled
out.
“You had a group on one side that was
mad, and you had a group on the other
side that was violent. Nobody wants to
say that, but I’ll say that,” he said.
Trump defended the cause of those who
gathered to protest the removal of a
statue honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee and
the Confederacy.
“Was George Washington a slave owner. So
will George Washington lose his status?”
he said. “What do you think of Thomas
Jefferson? Do you like him? ... You’re
changing history. You’re changing
culture.”
While Trump condemned the driver who
rammed the crowd and killed a
counter-protester, he declined to label
the action specifically as an act of
terrorism.
“The driver of the car is a disgrace to
himself, his family and his country,”
Trump said. “You can call it
terrorism; you can call it murder. You
can call it whatever you want.”