National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn claimed that militant “anti-fascists” (or “antifa”) are just concerned citizens “standing up for equality and freedom” in a Financial Times interview that ran Friday.

“Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK,” Cohn said of the recent violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. “I believe this administration can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our communities.”

Cohn’s comments were a clear shot at President Trump, who took heat in the media for acknowledging that “both sides” engaged in the violence in Charlottesville.

Cohn drew no distinctions between peaceful counter-protesters and militant groups whose stated political goals go well beyond inflicting violence upon white supremacists. (RELATED: In Their Own Words: The Radical Political Goals Of ‘Anti-Fascists’)

As The Daily Caller has reported, “anti-fascist” groups are open about the fact that they aren’t interested in protecting America’s system of government — they’re interested in destroying it. (RELATED: Armed Antifa Group Calls For Open Revolution, Violence Against Police)

Many of these groups are openly opposed to democracy because, they claim, it preserves white supremacy.

As one “anti-fascist” group explains: “Virtually every framework that countenances hierarchy, be it democracy or ‘national liberation,’ enables old power imbalances like white supremacy and patriarchy to remain in place, hidden within the legitimacy of the prevailing structures.” (RELATED: Rooting Against America: Activists Plan To Make America’s Leaders Lose ‘International Legitimacy’)