*sigh*. We’re still litigating this, huh? Okay. Fine. Let’s do it. What exactly did President Trump say about Charlottesville?
Well, initially Trump, “condemn[ed] in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides” on Saturday August 12, 2017. This definitely draws a parallel between the violence from the Unite the Right protesters, who were… largely (if not entirely) Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, White Nationalists, and other assorted racists and anti-Semites. That’s… not super great. But, maybe we can give Trump the benefit of the doubt here and say that he’s clearly comparing the violence from both groups, and that he had not yet received confirmation of the identity of the Charlottesville car attacker at the time of his recording. Doing that, perhaps we can exonerate this statement as not being as bad as it seems.
I would like to point out what he does not do here as well. He does not condemn White Supremacists, White Nationalists, Neo–Nazis, etc. specifically. He does not distinguish between the Unite the Right attendees at this time – everyone is included in this statement. He does not state that while the actions of the counter-protesters were reprehensible in his view, he understands their opinion of the Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, and other Unite the Right attendees. He does not say anything about the Robert E Lee statue. So, if this is some kind of exoneration for Trump’s behavior after Charlottesville, it’s a pretty damn hollow one.
On August 14, 2017 Trump issued the following statement where he explicitly condemned racism, the KKK, white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, and the like. This is a pretty good statement. It should have ended the controversy or at least muted it, as now the president appears to have acknowledged that there was more problems at the Unite the Right rally than just the violence and made his condemnation of the unsavory participants much more clear. Problem solved right? I thought so at the time too. Unfortunately, I was wrong then, and if you think that this statement meant anything you’re wrong now.
On August 15, 2017 Trump actually walked-back that statement and defended his initial comments. Here’s a full transcript of his remarks during the press conference. In this press conference he placed blame on, “both sides” as opposed to solely on the white supremacists, racists, etc. as the August 14th statement seemed to do. This is also where the famous, “very fine people, on both side” comment comes from. And in a vacuum, that might seem like a reasonable assumption. A right-wing rally might attract some unsavory-types, but would also likely have a good number of “decent people” who agreed with the overall position of not removing the Lee statue. However, it’s hard to make that argument about Unite the Right. Really, really hard.
You see, the Unite the Right rally really wasn’t your standard right-wing rally. It was explicitly designed for Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, white nationalists, and other racists and anti-Semites. How can I say that? Pretty easily really. Look at the speaker list for one.
Do you recognize any names on there? I sure as heck do. And every single name I recognize is some sort of Neo-Nazi, white nationalist, or white supremacist. Usually a self-avowed Neo-Nazi, white nationalist, or white supremacist. I looked up the one name I didn’t recognize (Dr. Michael Hill) and apparently he’s a neo-confederate racist anti-Semite. So, color me completely and totally unsurprised. This was a racist, anti-Semitic rally. Not a right-wing one. Anyone who went to this rally and did not hold these views, would be going to a rally despite the viewpoints of the speakers and the other attendees. And which do you think is more likely: The Unite the Right attendees agreed with these viewpoints and wanted to hear the speakers, or they hated these viewpoints and found them to be completely and totally abhorrent but god damn it, we need to protect that statue of Robert E Lee! Which do you think Occam’s Razor would say is more likely?
Buuuuuut, we’re still not done yet. Oh no. Because Trump actually specified what “fine people” he was talking about in the Unite the Right rally. In that same press conference, he stated:
“ No, no. There were people in that rally – and I looked the night before – if you look, there were people protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee. I’m sure in that group there were some bad ones. The following day it looked like they had some rough, bad people – neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call them.”
So, when Trump mentions, “very fine people” he’s referring to the peaceful protesters on Friday night. The night of the torch-lit march on the Grounds of the University of Virginia. So, the people marching and screaming things like, “You will not replace us!”, “Jews will not replace us!”, or “Blood and Soil!” all of which are white supremacist slogans and have significance in that movement are the, “very fine people” Trump is talking about at the Unite the Right rally. And that’s by his own admission. Color me decidedly unimpressed.
(Shown in the first minute of this video: The, “very fine people” attending the Unite the Right rally according to President Trump)
At best, you could say that some of the people in the march who weren’t chanting slogans, or carrying torches, or doing anything other than showing solidarity to those who were might be able to be defined as, “very fine people”.
But as a Jew, I’m really not comfortable with calling anyone showing solidarity or sympathy to literal self-avowed Nazis a very fine person. You might have a different opinion and that’s okay, but that’s where my personal line is.
At the very least, I’m sure we can all agree that there’s not the kind of marked difference between the attendees of the Unite the Right rally on Friday night as opposed to Saturday that Trump seems to be trying to make here.
So, how can we conclude this? Well, a few ways:
We can assume that there were non Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, racists, assorted anti-Semites, etc. at the Unite the Right rally despite not really having any evidence to do so and that they are the “very fine people” Trump is talking about.
We can say that the people marching in silent solidarity with the Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, racists, assorted other anti-Semites, etc. might not hold those views and thus might represent the “very fine people” Trump was talking about.
We can say that a Neo-Nazi, white supremacist, racist, or assorted anti-Semite could be part of the, “very fine people” Trump is talking about, and that’s okay.
We can say that a Neo-Nazi, white supremacist, racist, or assorted anti-Semite are the most likely people Trump is talking about when he says, “Very fine people” and that’s completely and totally unacceptable.
I think I’ve given more than enough evidence to say that the latter is likely the case, and thus that President Trump’s remarks about Charlottesville, not including his August 14th statement that he himself walked-back, are pretty worthy of criticism. Infinitely worthy of criticism as a matter of fact.
Does that make Trump racist? Maybe. I think it means that at the very least he’s willing to court racists in order to appeal to his base. But, his Charlottesville statements certainly do not exonerate him from being defined as racist.
I’m more than open to alternative explanations from @siryouarebeingmocked (who has an… incredibly variable opinion about some aspects of this particular event), @legendarythotbuster, @antifashaming, @kob131, @tzimiscelord, or anyone else. Be warned though. You’re going to need some good sources, because this is one situation where I’m pretty sure I’ve got the whole story.
