Story highlights Trump's remarks signaled a deep disconnect between the President and many Americans

Trump's comments sent signals that he was more concerned about not upsetting a segment of his base

New York (CNN) President Donald Trump revealed Tuesday the driving force behind his initial response to the violent clashes that broke out Saturday in Charlottesville: his political base.

Trump's initial response to the violent protests sparked by a racist, white supremacist, neo-Nazi rally was to avoid condemning those groups by name and instead blame "many sides" for the violence. On Tuesday, he again blamed "both sides" and signaled he was standing up for those who oppose the removal of Confederate monuments from public squares -- making clear he was more concerned about not alienating his political base than exercising his moral responsibility as President.

"Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue, Robert E. Lee," Trump said, emphasizing at several points during the impromptu news conference that the rally protesting the statue's planned removal was attended by non-white supremacists as well.

And then, as if channeling the views espoused by many Americans who flocked to his rallies during the presidential campaign by the thousands -- those Americans Trump could easily picture protesting the statue's removal without adhering to white supremacist ideology -- he added: "So this week it's Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? ... You really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?"

"You're changing history. You're changing culture," Trump said.

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