Trump Goes Back to Defending His ‘Both Sides’ Charlottesville Comment

When asked about his Wednesday talk with Republican Sen. Tim Scott, President Trump told reporters that the two had “a great talk” and that, regarding the white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, he told the senator that “you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also.” The president then continued to revisit his equivocating comments about “both sides” leading to the death of an anti-racism protester at the event. “Now because of what’s happened since then with Antifa. When you look at really what’s happened since Charlottesville, a lot of people are saying and people have actually written, ‘Gee, Trump may have a point.’ I said there’s some very bad people on the other side also,” the president told reporters. Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, has criticized Trump on issues involving race in the past. After Trump said “fine people” were protesting on both sides in Charlottesville, Scott said the president’s “moral authority is compromised.”