--- title: Charlottesville: Majority Donald Trump Did Not Do Enough description: A new poll found that 52% of adults thought that President Donald Trump's response to events in Charlottesville was "not strong enough" canonical: https://time.com/4903291/charlottesville-donald-trump-poll/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-16T21:31:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:29:21.524Z article:section: Politics og:title: 52% Think Trump Wasn't Strong Enough on Charlottesville og:description: Only 27% felt the president's response was adequate. og:url: https://time.com/4903291/charlottesville-donald-trump-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dbb374de305acac/6988da0886f68e4d826e608f/gettyimages-831990178.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2776 og:image:height: 1562 og:image:alt: donald trump response charlottesville poll og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 52% Think Trump Wasn't Strong Enough on Charlottesville twitter:description: Only 27% felt the president's response was adequate. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dbb374de305acac/6988da0886f68e4d826e608f/gettyimages-831990178.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:32 video:published: 2017-08-15 section: politics topics: Charlottesville violence, blame on both sides, neo-Nazis and white supremacists, counter-protesters, Robert E. Lee statue, renaming of parks, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, slave owners, removal of statues, changing history genre: interview, news clip tones: defensive, combative, argumentative emotions: anger (medium), defiance (medium), pride (low) sentiment: negative audience: general news audiences, political observers, readers interested in race and history people: Donald Trump, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee content_suitability: violence [00:31-00:50]; hate [00:00-00:11]; politics [00:00-01:32] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # 52% of Americans Say Trump's Response to Charlottesville Wasn't Strong Enough > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=9f83dfd5-84de-4c45-a33c-0a0f0c02e9be&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Again Blames 'Both Sides' for Charlottesville Violence [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Again Blames 'Both Sides' for Charlottesville Violence](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EzwfOun0.m3u8) (1:32)  _Published 2017-08-15. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that anti-racism protesters bear some of the blame for the violent rallies in Charlottesville, returning to his original comments that "both sides" were responsible for the deadly clashes._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video presents a speaker, identified in the transcript as President Trump, defending his statement that blame falls on both sides of the Charlottesville clashes. He says not all demonstrators were neo-Nazis or white supremacists and describes counter-protesters swinging clubs and attacking. He then questions whether statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson should be removed given their roles as slave owners, arguing that such removals amount to changing history and culture. ## Key points - The speaker says he has condemned neo-Nazis and other groups, but not all people at the rallies were neo-Nazis or white supremacists. (00:00) - The speaker says there is blame on both sides and asks whether the group that came charging with clubs has any guilt. (00:20) - The speaker says a group on the left violently attacked the other group, and that people there were protesting the taking down of a very important statue. (00:31) - The speaker refers to the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name as part of the dispute behind the protest. (00:54) - The speaker asks whether George Washington, a slave owner, should lose his status and whether his statue should be taken down. (01:04) - The speaker says he loves Thomas Jefferson and asks whether his statue should be taken down because he was a major slave owner. (01:16) - The speaker concludes that removing statues amounts to changing history and culture, saying 'It's fine.' (01:25) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:20] Condemnation and blame on both sides. The speaker says he condemned neo-Nazis but not everyone at the rallies was a white supremacist, and that blame lies on both sides. - [00:20 to 00:54] Responsibility of counter-protesters. The speaker asks whether the left-leaning group with clubs bears guilt and says they violently attacked the other group while protesting a statue removal. - [00:54 to 01:32] Questions about removing historical statues. The speaker raises George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as slave owners and argues that removing their statues changes history and culture. ## Key quotes - [00:00] President Trump: "not all of those people were neo- Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists." - [00:11] President Trump: "I think there's blame on both sides." - [00:31] President Trump: "They came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs" - [01:04] President Trump: "George Washington was a slave owner." - [01:25] President Trump: "You're changing history. You're changing culture." ## Questions this video answers - Does the speaker believe blame for the rally violence falls on both sides? [00:11] - Does the speaker think the counter-protesters who came charging with clubs bear any guilt? [00:20] - What does the speaker think removing historical statues does? [01:25] ## Content suitability - violence [00:31-00:50]: Discussion of people swinging clubs and violently attacking others at a rally. - hate [00:00-00:11]: References to neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the context of the rally. - politics [00:00-01:32]: Political commentary on the Charlottesville rally and removal of historical statues. by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Aug 16, 2017 9:31 PM UTC President Donald Trump said Tuesday that anti-racism protesters bear some of the blame for the violent rallies in Charlottesville, returning to his original comments that "both sides" were responsible for the deadly clashes. by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Aug 16, 2017 9:31 PM UTC A [new NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll](http://maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/misc/usapolls/us170814%5FPBS/NPR%5FPBS%20NewsHour%5FMarist%20Poll%5FNational%20Nature%20of%20the%20Sample%20and%20Tables%5FAugust%2017,%202017.pdf#page=3) found that 52% of American adults thought that President Trump’s response to violence that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, was “not strong enough.” Trump’s comments have been heavily scrutinized since a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville turned deadly Saturday when a man ran his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one and injuring 19. Trump said there was [blame “on both sides”](http://time.com/4902159/donald-trump-there-is-blame-on-both-sides-for-violent-clashes-in-charlottesville/) leading to [several resignations](http://fortune.com/2017/08/14/charlottesville-ken-frazier-trump-ceos/) from his manufacturing council and strategy and policy forum, both of which he [decided to disband](http://time.com/4903380/donald-trump-strategy-ceo-council-disbanding/) shortly after. Only 27% felt Trump’s response was strong enough and 21% said they were unsure. Even among those who said they approve of Trump, 42% said they either felt his response was not strong enough or were unsure. Republicans gave the most support to the President with 59% approving of his response. The poll also revealed Trump’s approval ratings to be at[ record lows. ](http://time.com/4786624/donald-trump-approval-rating-presidents/) The poll was conducted by interviewing 1,125 adults on Aug. 14 and 15 and has a margin of error plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. ## Transcript [00:00] I've condemned neo- Nazis, I've condemned many [00:04] different groups, but not all of those people were [00:08] neo- Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were [00:11] white supremacists. I think there's blame on both [00:13] sides. You look at both sides I think there's blame [00:18] on both sides, and I have no doubt about it. What [00:20] about the alt- left? They came charging, as you say, at [00:23] the alt- right. Do they have any semblance of guilt? [00:27] [ CROSSTALK ]. Let me ask you this, what about the [00:31] fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, [00:34] swinging clubs, Do they have any problem? I think they [00:38] do. There was a group on this side, you can call them [00:41] the left, you've just called them the left, that came [00:44] violently attacking the other group. So you can say what [00:47] you want, but that's they way it is. You had people in [00:50] that group that were there to protest the taking down, [00:54] to them, a very, very important statue, And the [00:57] renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another [01:00] name .>> [ UNKNOWN ] George Washington was a [01:04] slave owner. Was George Washington a slave owner? [01:07] So, will George Washington now lose his status? Excuse [01:12] me. Are we going to take down statues to George [01:16] Washington How about Thomas Jefferson? What do you [01:19] think about Thomas Jefferson? You like him? I do love [01:20] Thomas Jefferson. Okay good. Are we gonna take [01:23] down the statue? Cuz he was a major slave owner. [01:25] Now are we gonna take down his statue? So you know [01:28] what? It's fine. You're changing history. 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