President Trump veered from prepared remarks when addressing the violence in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday and improvised a line condemning the actions of “many sides,” according to reports.
A senior White House adviser told Politico the written statement prepared for Trump to deliver Saturday was similar in both tone and substance to his remarks Monday, during which Trump denounced white nationalist groups by name.
The president, though, decided to go off script.
Another senior White House official told ABC News that Trump ad-libbed the now-controversial “on many sides” phrase, words that weren’t included in the written statement.
“Those were his own words,” the official said.
Trump earned widespread criticism for the remarks he made from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., on Saturday, during which the president said, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides.”
Republicans and Democrats called on Trump to denounce the specific white nationalist groups who rallied in Charlottesville, and the president was forced to issue a second statement Monday.
“Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its names are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” Trump said.
White nationalists clashed with counter-protesters in Charlottesville on Saturday.
One woman died and 19 others were hurt after a man, identified as James Alex Fields, allegedly drove his car into a crowd of counter-demonstrators.
Trump said Monday the Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the events in Charlottesville.
