"What about the alt-left that came charging at, as you say, at the alt-right? Advertisement 
 
 “What about the fact that they came charging – they came charging with clubs in their hands swinging clubs? I would just call it as the fastest one to come up with a good verdict. At one point during the press conference, he said that he "didn't know David Duke was there [at the protest]." USA TODAY 
 
 Trump also said "not all of those people" who attended the demonstration were not racist or neo-Nazi, but only wanted to protest the city's plans to remove the Robert E. Lee statue. During a rollicking, impromptu news conference in which Trump and reporters frequently argued and interrupted each other, the president also: 
 
 Questioned moves by local government to remove Confederate statues and monuments from public places 
 
 Trump openly wondered whether tributes to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are at risk because they were slave owners. Are we going to take down — excuse me," Trump said, cutting off a reporter who tried to interject. Mr. Trump accused people he called the alt-left of “swinging clubs” as they “came charging at, as you say, at the alt-right.” He said some of the right-wing members of the crowd in the Virginia park were “bad.” But he added that the other side came “charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent.” 
 
 Aides had urged him for days to take the high ground, persuading him on Monday to read a brief statement condemning the neo-Nazi groups from the Diplomatic Room in the White House. Advertisement 
 
 Because if there’s one thing the public needs to know, it’s that the president’s house in Charlottesville “is the winery.” 
 
 One huge fan? "I cannot sit on a council for a President that tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism; I resign, effective immediately," tweeted Trumka.
– President Trump doubled down on Saturday's widely criticized "many sides" statement during a press conference Tuesday at Trump Tower, claiming "there is blame on both sides" in regards to the fatal white supremacist and neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, the New York Times reports. Trump had tried to walk back his original statement on Monday, but on Tuesday he called it "excellent" and a "fine statement," according to USA Today. He said he didn't condemn white supremacists on Saturday "because I didn't know all the facts." "I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct," the president said. On Tuesday, Trump went ever further in his "many sides" argument, condemning the "alt-left" groups that were "very, very violent." He went on to say both sides—including the side that counts neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and the KKK as members—contain some "very fine people," ABC News reports. "Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me," Trump said. "Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch." He said many of the people in Charlottesville just didn't want to see a statue get torn down, pointing out that both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. "This week, it is Robert E. Lee and this week, Stonewall Jackson," Trump said. "Is it George Washington next?" Splinter notes the press conference was originally supposed to be about infrastructure.