--- title: Donald Trump: White Supremacists Praise Charlottesville Talk description: President Trump's latest remarks about the clashes in Charlottesville, Va., drew praise on Tuesday from white supremacists canonical: https://time.com/4902308/white-nationalists-supremacists-donald-trump-charlottesville/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-15T23:18:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:00:18.420Z article:section: Politics og:title: White Supremacists Loved President Trump's Latest Comments on Charlottesville og:description: "I'm proud of him for speaking the truth" og:url: https://time.com/4902308/white-nationalists-supremacists-donald-trump-charlottesville/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa8cac75805853b7/6988d9e8e76ad209fa62ebe9/donald-trump-white-nationalists.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4027 og:image:height: 2265 og:image:alt: President Trump Speaks On Infrastructure Meeting Held At Trump Tower og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White Supremacists Loved President Trump's Latest Comments on Charlottesville twitter:description: "I'm proud of him for speaking the truth" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa8cac75805853b7/6988d9e8e76ad209fa62ebe9/donald-trump-white-nationalists.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White Supremacists Loved President Trump's Latest Comments on Charlottesville > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 15, 2017 11:18 PM UTC  President Donald Trump speaks following a meeting on infrastructure at Trump Tower, August 15, 2017 in New York City. President Donald Trump speaks following a meeting on infrastructure at Trump Tower, August 15, 2017 in New York City. Drew Angerer/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 15, 2017 11:18 PM UTC President [Donald Trump’s](http://time.com/4902129/president-donald-trump-both-sides-charlottesville/) latest [remarks](http://time.com/4902144/donald-trump-charlottesville-blame-both-sides-kkk-nazi/?xid=homepage) about the clashes in Charlottesville, Va., drew praise on Tuesday from [white supremacists](http://time.com/4901402/charlottesville-yes-youre-racist-twitter/) after Trump said “both sides” were to blame for the violence. “Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa,” former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke wrote on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/DrDavidDuke/status/897559892164304896). Trump on Tuesday described anti-racism protesters as the “alt-left” and said “there’s blame on both sides.” “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,” Trump said Tuesday in a [press conference](http://time.com/4902144/donald-trump-charlottesville-blame-both-sides-kkk-nazi/?xid=homepage) at Trump Tower. On Monday, Trump [condemned white supremacists](http://time.com/4899810/donald-trump-charlottesville/) and called racism “evil.” But that response — which came nearly 48 hours after the violence in Charlottesville — was dismissed by many white supremacists. “He sounded like a Sunday school teacher. I just don’t take him seriously,” white nationalist [Richard Spencer](http://time.com/4746276/richard-spencer-auburn-university-protests/) told reporters on Monday, [according to HuffPost](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-nationalist-calls-presidents-denouncement-of-hate-groups-kumbaya-nonsense%5Fus%5F59923778e4b09096429961e8). “It sounded so hollow and vapid.” Spencer praised Trump’s comments on Tuesday. “Trump’s statement was fair and down to earth. #Charlottesville could have been peaceful, if police did its job,” Spencer said on Twitter, adding: “I’m proud of him for speaking the truth.” Eli Mosley, one of the organizers of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, [told a HuffPost reporter](https://twitter.com/dliebelson/status/897573214225924096) that he felt Trump’s remarks showed he was supporting them. “The madman President Trump was on the campaign has returned. He has returned, and he is out — he is going on offense. Everybody knows it. Everybody knows how the information environment just changed,” said alt-right activist [Jack Posobiec](https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/897568838824239104), known for promoting the false “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory. “Take a bow. Take a bow, President Trump, because you just earned it.” Trump’s remarks, meanwhile, quickly drew criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. “We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive,” Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SpeakerRyan/status/897579093184610305). “This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. 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