--- title: Betsy DeVos Condemns White Supremacists in Charlottesville description: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos condemned the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., as "cowardly, hateful and just plain wrong" canonical: https://time.com/4906083/betsy-devos-charlottesville-white-supremacy/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-18T01:06:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:29:42.002Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'Just Plain Wrong.' Betsy DeVos Condemns White Supremacists After Charlottesville og:description: "Such views are cowardly, hateful and just plain wrong" og:url: https://time.com/4906083/betsy-devos-charlottesville-white-supremacy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75b4d887204c2728/6988da37ab6d7709f26af736/betsy-devos-charlottesville.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Testifies To Senate Hearing On Budget Of Department og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Just Plain Wrong.' Betsy DeVos Condemns White Supremacists After Charlottesville twitter:description: "Such views are cowardly, hateful and just plain wrong" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75b4d887204c2728/6988da37ab6d7709f26af736/betsy-devos-charlottesville.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Just Plain Wrong.' Betsy DeVos Condemns White Supremacists After Charlottesville > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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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=7f2ca9d3-6d9b-4a51-b45f-8ec48f16d6c2&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._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 18, 2017 1:06 AM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 18, 2017 1:06 AM UTC Education Secretary [Betsy DeVos](http://time.com/4893923/education-secretary-betsy-devos-racism/) on Thursday condemned the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., as “cowardly, hateful and just plain wrong” after President Donald Trump said [“both sides” were to blame](http://time.com/4902144/donald-trump-charlottesville-blame-both-sides-kkk-nazi/) for the violence. “There is fear, pain, anger, disappointment, discouragement and embarrassment across America, and I know, too, here within the Department,” DeVos wrote in the [memo](http://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015d-f1da-d354-abfd-f1fa062d0000), which was [published by Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/17/betsy-devos-white-nationalist-views-abhorrent-241752). “Last weekend’s tragic and unthinkable events in Charlottesville, which stole three innocent lives and injured many more, were wholly unacceptable. The views of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other racist bigots are totally abhorrent to the American ideal. We all have a role to play in rejecting views that pit one group of people against another. Such views are cowardly, hateful and just plain wrong.” She criticized “hate-filled conversations” that have “reopened hurtful wounds from shameful portions of our nation’s past.” DeVos did not mention Trump, who this week defended some of the participants in the white supremacist rally and said “both sides” were responsible for violence that left one counter-protester dead. On Thursday, Trump [said it was “sad”](http://time.com/4904510/donald-trump-twitter-confederate-statues/) to see [the removal](http://time.com/4901801/charlottesville-protests-confederate-statue-removal-accelerated/) of “our beautiful” Confederate statues and monuments in the wake of the Charlottesville clashes. Before Saturday’s “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, [torch-carrying white supremacists](http://time.com/4898089/uva-white-nationalist-rally-virginia/) marched through the University of Virginia campus. Since then, [Texas A&M University](http://time.com/4900741/white-nationalist-rally-texas-am-cancelled-richard-spencer/) decided to cancel a white nationalist rally scheduled to take place on campus next month. And the [University of Florida](http://time.com/4902729/richard-spencer-university-of-florida/) denied a request by white supremacist Richard Spencer to speak on campus. “Our own difficult history reminds us that we must confront, head-on, problems when and where they exist with moral clarity and conviction,” DeVos said in the memo. “Our nation is greater than what it has shown in recent days.” ## Transcript I've condemned neo- Nazis, I've condemned many different groups, but not all of those people were neo- Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists. I think there's blame on both sides. You look at both sides I think there's blame on both sides, and I have no doubt about it. What about the alt- left? They came charging, as you say, at the alt- right. Do they have any semblance of guilt? [ CROSSTALK ]. Let me ask you this, what about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs, Do they have any problem? I think they do. There was a group on this side, you can call them the left, you've just called them the left, that came violently attacking the other group. So you can say what you want, but that's they way it is. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down, to them, a very, very important statue, And the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name . >> [ UNKNOWN ] George Washington was a slave owner. Was George Washington a slave owner? So, will George Washington now lose his status? Excuse me. Are we going to take down statues to George Washington How about Thomas Jefferson? What do you think about Thomas Jefferson? You like him? I do love Thomas Jefferson. Okay good. Are we gonna take down the statue? Cuz he was a major slave owner. Now are we gonna take down his statue? So you know what? It's fine. You're changing history. You're changing culture. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4906083/betsy-devos-charlottesville-white-supremacy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4906083/betsy-devos-charlottesville-white-supremacy/"},"headline":"'Just Plain Wrong.' 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