President Trump reportedly ad-libbed part of his controversial statement Saturday in response to the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Va.

Two White House officials told ABC News the president went off script in his comments, in which he blamed "many sides" for the violence, as opposed to specifically singling out white nationalists and the far right.

"Those were his own words," one senior White House official said.

ADVERTISEMENT

The official said those words "were not" prepared for the president.

Politico also reported that the president steered away from the prepared remarks he had for Saturday, according to a White House adviser.

Homeland Security adviser Thomas Bossert briefed Trump on what was going on in Virginia, and pointed to violence coming from protesters on both sides, Politico reported, according to a White House aide familiar with the situation.

Trump faced backlash for his comments on Charlottesville, in which he blamed "many sides" for the deadly violence and did not name the specific hate groups marching.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides — on many sides," Trump said Saturday.

On Monday, Trump made another statement, saying "racism is evil" and calling out for the first time the KKK, neo-Nazis and other hate groups for the role in the weekend's violence at a white nationalist rally.