A descendant of Confederate general Robert E Lee has called for all statues of him to be pulled down and claimed Donald Trump has “no idea” what he is talking about when he defends them.

In the aftermath of neo-Nazi-led violence in Charlottesville that left one woman dead, Mr Trump was slow to blame the white supremacists who triggered the clashes and said there was blame on “many sides”.

He also defended the “fine people” who were protesting over plans to remove the statue of the general. “I wonder, is it George Washington next week,” he told reporters during an rumbustious press conference in Trump Tower.

Yet Karen Finney, a descendant of Lee and a one-time spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, said Mr Trump does not know what he is talking about and was not “intellectually interested” in learning about the difficult, complex history he was diving into.

“President Trump, how dare you. You have no idea,” she told MSNBC.

There were two periods in US history - between 1880 to 1920, and during the 1950s and 1960s - when most of the statues of figures such as Lee were erected. They were put up by white communities trying to impose control on black people and to push back against the progress being made by the civil rights campaign.

Donald Trump challenges, and cherry-picks, coverage of his Charlottesville statements at rally

“[It was] to say to blacks, ‘guess who’s still charge’,” said Ms Finney, a great-great-great grandniece of Lee.

“This is the system of the Confederacy that Donald Trump was defending, so when he throws those kinds of terms around he doesn’t really understand the history.”

Ms Finney, whose mother is white and whose father was black, said it was essential for the country to have a sober conversation about what such statues represented. Otherwise, the country was failing to tell the truth about a period that represented “real terrorism”.

Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.

At a rally this week in Arizona, Mr Trump again spoke out in defence of retaining such statues, which many cities and states are rushing to remove.

Speaking in Phoenix on Tuesday, he said those trying to get rid of the statues were “trying to take away our culture. They’re trying to take away our history”.

“And our weak leaders, they do it overnight. These things have been there for one hundred-and-fifty years, for a hundred years,” said Mr Trump. “You go back to a university and it’s gone. Weak, weak people.”

Ms Finney is not the only descendant of Lee to have denounced the violence that broke out in Charlottesville and left 32-year-old Heather Heyer dead. A 20-year-old man has been charged with her murder.

“There's no place for that,” Robert E Lee V told Newsweek of the violence. “There’s no place for that hate.”