Singer-songwriter Billy Joel says in a new interview that he wore a Star of David onstage in his first show following white nationalist violence in Charlottesville, Va., last year to remind President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE that "Nazis aren't good people."

Joel told CBS News that the president's comments after a woman was killed last August when a suspected white supremacist struck a crowd of counterprotesters with a car "enraged" him.

“The president said, you know, ‘There’s some good people on that side ...' No, Nazis aren’t good people,” Joel told CBS in an interview that aired Sunday.

ADVERTISEMENT

"It really enraged me, actually. My old man, his family got wiped out. They were slaughtered in Auschwitz. Him and his parents were able to get out. But then he was in the U.S. Army during the war and fought with Patton and was shot at by Nazis. My family suffered. And I think I actually have a right to do that," he continued.

Joel noted that he does not usually involve politics in his shows, but thought he "had to do something that night" after the president's comments.

Trump faced sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans last year after he defiantly blamed "both sides" for the violence that left one dead and dozens injured following a "Unite the Right" rally of white supremacist and far-right groups in the college town.

The president doubled down on his initial remarks after issuing a statement condemning the violence, arguing that "very fine people" on both sides of the issue had been caught up in the skirmish.

“What about the alt-left that came charging at the — as you say, the alt-right?” Trump asked reporters during a combative press conference after the violence. “Do they have any semblance of guilt? What about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as I am concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day.”

The 21-year-old Ohio man who allegedly drove his car into the group of counterprotesters has been charged with federal hate crimes.

James Alex Fields was charged in a 30-count indictment last month returned by a Charlottesville grand jury, according to a Justice Department release.