Story highlights Bossert said he condemned white supremacists

He said the groups showed up looking for violence

Washington (CNN) White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's remarks in response to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, saying the President was not equivocating with his denunciation of violence from "many sides" Saturday.

But, like Trump, Bossert implicated "both sides" for Saturday's violence in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," while also saying the White House was "absolutely" against white supremacists.

"I'm sure there were good people in the groups that had various opinions on the removal or maintenance of the statue," Bossert said. "But what they found when they showed up were groups from outside that showed up on both sides, looking for trouble, dressed in riot gear, prepared for violence."

Members of various white nationalist factions showed up to Charlottesville this weekend as part of a protest against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. They clashed with counterprotesters, culminating on Saturday with a man ramming a car through the counterprotesters. Authorities said the attack killed one woman and injured 19 other people. Two Virginia state patrol troopers later died in a helicopter crash while assisting in the city's response to the protests.

Trump gave a statement condemning Saturday's violence from "many sides" and faced bipartisan criticism for failing to name and condemn white supremacy.

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