Politics & Government

While Trump Blames 'Both Sides' For Charlottesville, Reaction Against Him Is Decidedly One-Sided

President Trump said neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan were bad but asked what about the violent protesters on the left?

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NEW YORK, NY — President Donald Trump, who initially did not call out white supremacists in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville over the weekend, condemned Neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan on Monday but a day later once again said counter-protesters carried some of the blame for the violence.

The events in Virginia left a woman standing up to racism dead when a car driven by a man revealed to have Nazi views allegedly rammed into a crowd of protesters, injuring up to 19 others. The events also left two Virginia state troopers who were assisting with the ongoing events in Charlottesville dead when their helicopter crashed into a wooded area.

At a press conference on Tuesday about infrastructure, Trump said large groups of counter-protesters at Saturday's rally in Virginia were “very, very violent” and attacked the white nationalist and Nazi groups. In angry tones, he repeated his condemnation of white supremacists and Nazis but said that many of the people at the rally were good people protesting the removal of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee.

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Trump: 'Both Sides' To Blame In Charlottesville

“You had a group on one side and the other, and they came at each other with clubs, and it was vicious and horrible. It was a horrible thing to watch,” the president said. “There is another side. There was a group on this side, you can call them the left. You have just called them the left, that came violently attacking the other group. You can say what you want. That’s the way it is."

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After Trump's press conference on Tuesday, lawmakers and citizens alike reacted with shock to Trump's comments. Here's a sampling of what people said after the press conference.

A large number of people simply referred to it as "insane."

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio noted the irony of where Trump stood while making the remarks.

Other Democratic lawmakers doubled down on their condemnation of white supremacists while chiding the president for his comments.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, in whose state the violent events took place and with whom Trump spoke about ending the hate, issued the following statement:

Even Republicans called out the president's ambiguity on the issue after his remarks Monday.

Civil Rights Organizations

As Trump made his remarks, his new chief of staff, John Kelly, stood with arms folded in the background. His body language was not lost on observers.

One notable person thought the president's remarks were spot on. David Duke is a former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images News/Getty Images

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