--- title: Donald Trump: Republicans Condemn Charlottesville Remarks description: Republicans condemned President Trump's latest remarks on Charlottesville in which he said "both sides" were to blame for violent clashes canonical: https://time.com/4902439/donald-trump-charlottesville-republicans-react/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-16T00:05:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T04:42:09.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republicans Condemn Trump's Latest Charlottesville Remarks og:description: "Mr. President, you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame" og:url: https://time.com/4902439/donald-trump-charlottesville-republicans-react/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65bbcdbe44fe7690/6988d9e122fb85332ae226c1/marco-rubio-republicans-donald-trump-charlottesville.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5189 og:image:height: 2919 og:image:alt: Senate Foreign Relations Cmte Votes On Tillerson Nomination For Sec'y Of State og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republicans Condemn Trump's Latest Charlottesville Remarks twitter:description: "Mr. President, you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65bbcdbe44fe7690/6988d9e122fb85332ae226c1/marco-rubio-republicans-donald-trump-charlottesville.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republicans Condemn Trump's Latest Charlottesville Remarks: 'Stop the Moral Equivalency' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### 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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c57a9c29-ef66-4b99-8c78-fa109fb2b603&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-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._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:42 AM UTCPublished: Aug 16, 2017 12:05 AM 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 [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:42 AM UTCPublished: Aug 16, 2017 12:05 AM UTC Republicans spoke out on Tuesday against [President Donald Trump’s](http://time.com/4902129/president-donald-trump-both-sides-charlottesville/?xid=homepage) latest [remarks](http://time.com/4902144/donald-trump-charlottesville-blame-both-sides-kkk-nazi/?xid=homepage) on Saturday’s white supremacist march in Charlottesville in which he said “both sides” were to blame for the violent clashes that left one anti-racism protester dead. “Mr. President, you can’t allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame. They support idea which cost nation & world so much pain,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said on Twitter, adding that white supremacist groups are “100% to blame” for an attack on a crowd of counter-protesters that killed one woman and injured 19 others. “The #WhiteSupremacy groups will see being assigned only 50% of blame as a win. We can not allow this old evil to be resurrected.” > [](https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/897575723443027968) In his remarks during a Tuesday press conference in Trump Tower, the President doubled down on his original response to Charlottesville, asking why anti-racism protesters, who he called the “alt-left,” were not receiving any blame. “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. The comments drew [praise from white supremacists](http://time.com/4902308/white-nationalists-supremacists-donald-trump-charlottesville/) and condemnation from politicians in both parties. Many GOP leaders did not address Trump directly or by name, but spoke out against white supremacy and any suggestions of “moral equivalency” between supremacist groups and their opponents. > [](https://twitter.com/SpeakerRyan/status/897579093184610305) > [](https://twitter.com/RepSteveStivers/status/897586719045947392) > [](https://twitter.com/JohnKasich/status/897589387759898625) > [](https://twitter.com/senrobportman/status/897588181255819264) > [](https://twitter.com/RepCharlieDent/status/897571875517337600) > [](https://twitter.com/justinamash/status/897582531117297664) > [](https://twitter.com/SenToddYoung/status/897582318013042688) > [](https://twitter.com/JeffFlake/status/897596929940606977) > [](https://twitter.com/RosLehtinen/status/897557043330129921) > [](https://twitter.com/JebBush/status/897611322870960128) > [](https://twitter.com/JebBush/status/897611438272991232) > [](https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/897603634577502209) > [](https://twitter.com/MittRomney/status/897612532386607104) ## 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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