“I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally.”

During a press conference Tuesday President Trump once again commented on the violence in Charlottesville. Naturally, his remarks were instantly mischaracterized to portray Trump as condoning the very neo-Nazis and white supremacists he condemned in a brief speech Monday.

In no time, the political media set began virtue signalling based on inaccurate summations of what Trump said. Heaven forbid media actually listen to or watch the words on which they comment.

This rush to blame without proper knowledge has become a common occurance thanks to summaries like this one. Apparently, taking two minutes to watch the included video is too arduous a task:

Pres. Trump on Charlottesville: “There’s blame on both sides…you also had people that were very fine people on both sides.” pic.twitter.com/ayX9eHABsN — ABC News (@ABC) August 15, 2017

Professor Jacobson was having none of it:

Distortion of comments spreading, he said “other than Neo Nazis and White Nationalists, because they should be condemned totally” https://t.co/Xcd54IpzxE — Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) August 15, 2017

Liar, that’s not what he said “other than Neo Nazis and White Nationalists, because they should be condemned totally” https://t.co/67GqCAdmN6 — Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) August 15, 2017

That’s not what he said, “other than Neo Nazis and White Nationalists, because they should be condemned totally” https://t.co/kSTe4T7uP2 — Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) August 15, 2017

Here’s what Trump actually said:

“You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people—on both sides—you had people in that group—excuse me. Excuse me. I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue, and the re-naming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name.”

Amazingly, everyone rushing to denounce Trump for his remarks they didn’t read or hear missed the whole part where Trump said, “the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists…should be condemned totally.”

“You’re changing history. You’re changing culture, and you had people—and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally. But you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists, OK? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly.”

Full remarks here.

It always helps to read what you’re complaining about in entirety. Something about credibility and integrity and those things few are interested in these days.

Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye



