Trump repeats Charlottesville shared blame comments

President Donald Trump veered off script Tuesday during a press conference about infrastructure, doubling down on his initial comments about the Saturday violence in Charlottesville, Va. “I think there is blame on both sides,” Trump said in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City. “What about the alt-left that came charging at, as you say, the alt-right, do they have any semblance of guilt?” Trump faced widespread backlash for initially blaming both sides after counterprotesters marched through Charlottesville and a man drove into them with his car—killing one woman and injuring 19 others. On Monday, Trump made a new statement specifically condemning the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis for espousing violence and hate. But on Tuesday, Trump adamantly defended his Saturday comments. He told reporters he took 48 hours to condemn white supremacists because he didn’t have all the facts at the time. “You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent,” Trump added. “Nobody wants to say it, but I will say it right now.” The president said neo-Nazis need to be condemned but it’s unfair to cast blame on the entire group that gathered in Charlottesville to protest the pending removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.