The White House sent a memo of talking points to Republicans on Capitol Hill and other allies telling them to say President Trump was "entirely correct" in his controversial assessment of the violence in Charlottesville, CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett reports. 
 
 CBS News obtained a copy of the memo, which has the subject line "President's Presser." 
 
 "Despite the criticism, the President reaffirmed some of our most important Founding principles: We are equal in the eyes of our Creator, equal under the law, and equal under our Constitution," reads one bullet point. 
 
 Although the press conference was scheduled to discuss American infrastructure, the president mainly spoke about the violence in Charlottesville, insisting "both sides" were responsible for the violence, and citing the "alt-left," who he said came "charging with clubs in their hands." 
 
 Other bullet points the White House wants discussed: 
 
 He has been a voice for unity and calm, encouraging the country to "rediscover the bonds of love and loyalty that brings us together as Americans." 
 
 
 
 He called for the end of violence on all sides so that no more innocent lives would be lost. 
 
 The President condemned the hate groups fueled by bigotry and racism over the weekend, and did so by name yesterday, but for the media that will never be enough. 
 
 The media reacted with hysteria to the notion that counter-protesters showed up with clubs spoiling for a fight, a fact that reporters on the ground have repeatedly stated. 
 
 Even a New York Times reporter tweeted that she "saw club-wielding "antifa" beating white nationalists being led out of the park." 
 
 The local ACLU chapter also tweeted: "Not sure who provoked first. Both sides were hitting each other at Justice Park before police arrived." 
 
 We should not overlook the facts just because the media finds them inconvenient. 
 
 From cop killing and violence at political rallies, to shooting at Congressmen at a practice baseball game, extremists on the left have engaged in terrible acts of violence. 
 
 The President is taking swift action to hold violent hate groups accountable. 
 
 The DOJ has opened a civil rights investigation into this weekend's deadly car attack. 
 
 Last Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it had completed the largest prosecution of white supremacists in the nation's history. 
 
 Leaders and the media in our country should join the president in trying to unite and heal our country rather than incite more division. 
 
 At least prominent Republican, U.S. Sen. John McCain, didn't repeat the talking points outlined in the memo. McCain tweeted late Tuesday "there's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate & bigotry. The President of the United States should say so." 
 
 There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry. The President of the United States should say so — John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) August 16, 2017 
 
 Mr. Trump was asked at his Tuesday news conference about McCain's earlier comments that Mr. Trump should defend his National Security Adviser, H.R. McMaster, against attacks by the alt-right. Mr. Trump said "you mean Sen. McCain who voted against us getting good healthcare?" 
 
 The reporter pressed on, saying McCain says the "alt-right is behind these attacks, and he linked that same group to those who perpetrated the attack in Charlottesville." 
 
 "Well, I don't know," Mr. Trump responded. "I can't tell you. I'm sure Sen. McCain must know what he's talking about. But when you say the alt-right, define alt-right to me. You define it. Go ahead." 
 
 Mr. Trump then spun off, describing the "alt-left." 
 
 Mr. Trump had been criticized Saturday by Democrats and Republicans alike for his response to the violence in Charlottesville, which left one person dead when a white nationalist allegedly rammed his car into a group of counter-protesters. The president said at the time many sides were at fault. Many prominent Republicans, including Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, had called on Mr. Trump to condemn the rally as domestic terrorism. 
 
 On Monday, the president did specifically decry white supremacists, but then re-lit the firestorm with his Tuesday remarks. ||||| A set of talking points the White House offered as a guide for President Donald Trump's supporters had a singular message on the fallout from a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville: "The president was entirely correct." 
 
 The memo echoed Trump's previous remarks on the rally — comments he made at a heated press conference on Tuesday and his statements in the days since the Saturday rally that erupted in northern Virginia. 
 
 Here's a sampling of the talking points the White House offered: 
 
 "The President was entirely correct — both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility." 
 
 "... the President reaffirmed some of our most important Founding principles: We are equal in the eyes of our Creator, equal under the law, and equal under the Constitution.'" 
 
 "He has been a voice for unity and calm, encouraging the country to 'rediscover the bonds of love and loyalty that brings us together as Americans.'" 
 
 "The President condemned — with no ambiguity — the hate groups fueled by bigotry and racism over the weekend ..." 
 
 "Even a New York Times reporter tweeted that she saw club-wielding antifa beating 'white nationalists' being led out of the park." 
 
 "The President is taking swift action to hold violent hate groups accountable." 
 
 While the talking points leaned heavily on praise for Trump's handling of the Charlottesville fallout and criticism of the media, observers noted that the memo did not include further rebukes of white nationalists, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis who organized and led the rally that left a 32-year-old woman and two policemen dead. 
 
 Trump is hearing it from all sides for his repeated equivocations about who is responsible for the violence that unfolded in Charlottesville. Though he specifically called out hate groups by name on Monday, he appeared to revert back to his original claim on Tuesday that "many sides" were to blame. ||||| The White House told allies Tuesday that President Trump was “entirely correct” to blame “both sides” for the protest violence in Charlottesville, fighting back at critics of his response, Fox News has learned. 
 
 A memo of talking points obtained by Fox News stated that during his remarks in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday, the president was “entirely correct – both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility.” 
 
 The memo also stated that Trump “with no ambiguity” condemned the hate groups that descended upon Charlottesville for the “Unite the Right” rally, and added the president has been “a voice for unity and calm,” and that he’s “taking swift action to hold violent hate groups accountable.” 
 
 TRUMP DECRIES 'ALT-LEFT' IN CHARLOTTESVILLE: 'DO THEY HAVE ANY SEMBLANCE OF GUILT?' 
 
 It ended by saying both leaders and the media “should join the president in trying to unite and heal our country rather than incite more division.” The memo was distributed to allies of the White House in an effort to try to get conservatives on board to defend Trump. 
 
 While speaking to the media Tuesday during what were supposed to be brief remarks without questions from the press, Trump declared that “there is blame on both sides” for the deadly violence that took place on Saturday. He also said “there are two sides to a story.” 
 
 Placing blame “on many sides” was Trump’s initial response to Saturday’s events, but two days later, the president specifically condemned the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists. 
 
 ANN COULTER CHEERS TRUMP: 'TODAY WE GOT OUR LEADER BACK' 
 
 After Trump’s reiteration Tuesday that both protesters on the far left and far right were to blame, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke tweeted, “Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth.” 
 
 White House officials apparently were caught off guard by his remarks Tuesday. Trump had signed off on a plan to not answer questions from journalists during an event touting infrastructure policies, according to a White House official speaking to The Associated Press. Once behind the lectern and facing the cameras, Trump overruled the decision. 
 
 Trump's advisers had hoped Tuesday’s remarks might quell a crush of criticism from Republicans, Democrats and business leaders. But the president's retorts Tuesday suggested he had been a reluctant participant in that cleanup effort and renewed questions about why he seemed to struggle to unequivocally condemn white nationalists. 
 
 LAWMAKERS, NATIONAL FIGURES REACT TO TRUMP'S CHARLOTTEVILLE COMMENTS 
 
 Members of his own Republican Party have pressured him to be more vigorous in criticizing bigoted groups, and business leaders have begun abandoning a White House jobs panel in response to his comments. 
 
 When asked to explain his Saturday comments about Charlottesville, Trump looked down at his notes and again read a section of his initial statement that denounced bigotry but did not single out white supremacists. He then tucked the paper back into his jacket pocket. 
 
 Fox News' Ed Henry and The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| “We must be clear,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday after Trump’s remarks. “White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.” | Mark Wilson/Getty Images Ryan, House and Senate GOP outraged by Trump news conference 
 
 President Donald Trump sparked a barrage of Republican outrage on Tuesday after he blamed “both sides” for the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia — including from House Speaker Paul Ryan. 
 
 “We must be clear,” Ryan said after Trump’s remarks. “White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.” 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said on Twitter, “Mr. President, you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame.” Added Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.): “This is simple: we must condemn and marginalize white supremacist groups, not encourage and embolden them.” 
 
 Many other Republicans also slammed the remarks Trump made at a news conference in New York in which he doubled down on his initial reaction to the violence that broke out over the weekend at a white supremacist rally where one woman was killed when a car rammed into counter-protesters. 
 
 “I think there’s blame on both sides,” Trump told reporters Tuesday at Trump Tower. “I have no doubt about it.” 
 
 Republicans have often been critical of Trump in the past, but the rebuke from members of his own party to his Charlottesville response was swifter and more widespread than perhaps at any point in his presidency. 
 
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 House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), now in rehabilitation after being shot during a June congressional baseball practice, responded on Twitter: “I was clear about this bigotry & violence over the weekend and I'll repeat it today: We must defeat white supremacy and all forms of hatred.” 
 
 Also on Twitter, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) said: “@POTUS must stop the moral equivalency! AGAIN, white supremacists were to blame for the violence in #Charlottesville.” 
 
 And Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) added: “We are Americans from all walks of life, working towards the American Dream. Nowhere in that dream is there room for racism.” 
 
 A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Kentucky Republican had no new comment in response to Trump’s remarks Tuesday. 
 
 Democrats also responded with outrage. 
 
 In a statement, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that by not taking sides, Trump had clearly shown what side he’s on. 
 
 “When David Duke and white supremacists cheer your remarks, you’re doing it very, very wrong,” Schumer said. “Great and good American presidents seek to unite, not divide. Donald Trump’s remarks clearly show he is not one of them.” 
 
 Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said on Twitter that Trump is “not my president.” 
 
 “As a Jew, as an American, as a human,” he wrote, “words cannot express my disgust and disappointment.” 
 
 Seung Min Kim and Rachael Bade contributed to this report.
– Republicans including Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio were quick to speak out against President Trump's comments Tuesday that "both sides" were to blame for the violence in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend. But that wasn't at all what the White House had planned. A memo of talking points sent to Republicans and other allies Tuesday called on them to declare Trump was "entirely correct," report CBS News and Fox News, which both obtained a copy. "Both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility," the memo continued, noting Trump's comments reaffirmed that "we are equal in the eyes of our Creator, equal under the law, and equal under our Constitution." The memo stressed that Trump "condemned—with no ambiguity—the hate groups fueled by bigotry and racism" and is "taking swift action to hold violent hate groups accountable," per Business Insider. After referring to Trump as "a voice for unity and calm," it called on leaders and the media to "join the president in trying to unite and heal our country rather than incite more division." Censure followed, however, from almost all sides. From Republicans, it was "swifter and more widespread than perhaps at any point in his presidency," reports Politico. A standout tweet from Rubio: "Mr. President, you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame. They support idea which cost nation & world so much pain."