The White House is pressing President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE's allies in Congress to argue that "the president was entirely correct" in his assertion that both white nationalist groups and anti-racism protesters deserve blame for the violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.

In talking points sent to GOP members of Congress on Tuesday and obtained by The Atlantic, the White House communications office urges Republicans to cast Trump's message as one of unity and argue that the president did, in fact, unequivocally condemn racism.

"The President was entirely correct — both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility," the talking points read.

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"The President condemned — with no ambiguity — the hate groups fueled by bigotry and racism over the weekend, and did so by name yesterday, but for the media that will never be enough," it continues.

The talking points are intended to help the president's allies rebut criticism mounting around Trump's criticism of what he called the "alt-left" during a contentious news conference on Tuesday.

In that news conference, the president defended himself against criticism that he was slow and equivocal in his condemnations of the violence that left one dead and at least 19 injured on Saturday.

He also defended those who gathered in the Virginia college town to protest the removal of a Confederate statue, suggesting that doing so could pave the way for statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to be taken down.

Trump's remarks were widely condemned by Democrats and Republicans, who accused the president of failing to place proper blame on white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups that incited violence during the Charlottesville protests.