There was the proposed wall on the Mexican border. The suggestion that some Mexican immigrants were rapists. “There’s a long list,” said Mr. Daley. “Nobody is really that surprised on this side of the pond because we’re on the outside looking in.”

It is a sentiment that has been echoed in parts of the British and European commentariat. While there is plenty of outrage at Mr. Trump’s comments — Germany’s justice minister called the president’s reaction “unbearable” — many do not see this as the moment when a mask slipped. They feel it slipped some time ago.

It was “no surprise,” wrote Anthony Zurcher, a BBC reporter, in an article posted on the news organization’s website. “Clues for how the president would react to such a situation as president were scattered across his presidential campaign.”

In The Guardian, Matthew d’Ancona, a center-right columnist who has also been a regular contributor to the opinion pages of The New York Times, described the violence in Charlottesville as a “wholly predictable” outcome of Mr. Trump’s behavior as a candidate and as president.

At most British newspapers, Mr. Trump’s comparison of neo-Nazis with their opponents on Tuesday did not make Wednesday’s front pages.