Speaking in Chile on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence said he 'stand[s] with the president' with his Charlottesville rhetoric. Pence backs Trump's Charlottesville rhetoric: 'I stand with the president'

Vice President Mike Pence declined Wednesday to distance himself from President Donald Trump’s controversial doubling down on violence that occurred at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.

“I spoke at length about this heartbreaking situation on Sunday night in Colombia,” Pence told reporters during a news conference in Chile alongside President Michelle Bachelet. “I stand with the president, and I stand by those words.”


Pence contended he and Trump have “been clear” on the tragedy, though Trump initially said Saturday there was violence “on many sides” before cleaning up his remarks Monday, when he delivered a statement declaring racism “evil” and singling out hate groups by name.

Trump, however, doubled down on his initial stance Tuesday, blaming “both sides” and repeatedly targeting what he called the “alt-left.”

Speaking Sunday alongside Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Pence had called the fatal events in Charlottesville, where white supremacists protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee clashed with counter-protesters, a “tragedy.”

One woman, Heather Heyer, died, and more than a dozen others were injured. Heyer’s memorial was held earlier Wednesday.

“Today, while I’m here in Chile, our hearts are in Charlottesville. Because just a few short hours ago, family and friends gathered to say farewell to a remarkable young woman, Heather Heyer,” Pence said. “And we’ve been praying. We’ve been praying for God’s peace and comfort for her family and her friends and her loved ones.”

On Sunday, the vice president had said Trump “clearly and unambiguously condemned” what occurred, but the White House sought to clarify his comments in a statement attributed to an unnamed spokesperson who said the president’s condemnation “of course” includes white supremacists, the KKK, neo-Nazis and other extremist groups.

Pence had gone further on Sunday than Trump, who did not single out those groups in his early comments last weekend.

“We have no tolerance for hate and violence, from white supremacists, neo-Nazis or the KKK,” Pence said in Colombia on Sunday. “These dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life and in the American debate, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms.”