"I think there is blame on both sides," Trump said in a rowdy exchange with reporters at Trump Tower in New York, where he was presenting infrastructure measures. "Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? He also called James Alex Fields Jr., 20, the suspected driver of the car that crashed into the crowd, "a disgrace to himself, his family and this country. Trump, who has quickly deemed other deadly incidents in the U.S. and around the world acts of terrorism, waffled when asked whether the car death was a terrorist attack. "There's a distinction that should be made between murder and manslaughter," Spencer said. This story first appeared on campaignlive.co.uk. When asked why he waited until Monday to explicitly condemn hate groups present in Charlottesville, Trump said he wanted to be careful not to make a "quick statement" without all the facts. An unnamed White House official said Sunday that "of course" the President condemns "white supremacists, KKK, neo-nazi and all extremist groups," but declined to explain why the President wasn't saying it himself. Asked whether he considers Trump an ally, Spencer replied that while he didn't think of Trump as "alt-right," he considers the president to be "the first true authentic nationalist in my lifetime." And he said it should be "up to a local town, community" to say whether the statue of Robert E. Lee should remain in place.
During a press conference at Trump Tower in New York City, which was intended to announce an executive order on infrastructure policy, President Donald Trump defended his August 12 remarks about the Charlottesville rally, placing "blame on both sides" for the incidents at the rally and criticizing what he referred to as the "alt-left," equating them with white supremacists and neo-Nazis on the right.