by Quinn Thurman

September 2, 2024

Let me set a scene for you. You sit down to watch the first day of the Democratic
National Convention. It has been about a month since the party switched nominees, and they’ve got a lot of ground to make if they hope to stand a chance in November. The old candidate, and current (but vacationing) President, Joe Biden walks up to give what is essentially a goodbye speech during the midnight hours of the convention. The speech is pretty much what you expect, starting off as an attempt at a victory lap listing all the accomplishments of his administration. Since the list is so short he moves on to talk about his support for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. However, as is the case with every democratic speaker, it does not take long for him to start talking about Trump.

The current president spends a few minutes detailing how another Trump administration would be bad for the already struggling country. Joe Biden then starts talking about a press conference Trump had back in 2017. He explains that there were neo-Nazi protesters in Charlottesville that caused mayhem and committed acts of violence in the city.

Joe Biden said “During the violent protest in Charlottesville when the president was asked, Donald said, and I Quote, ‘There are very fine people on both sides.’ My god! That’s what he said.”

Suddenly you are consumed with confusion and worry. How can this be? Why would he say that? Where can I go to find an article explaining this to me in an entertaining and thought-provoking way before I am consumed by my fears and vote democrat? This article has those answers.

The first thing you should know is that the Democrats, especially Joe Biden, have been using this quote for years. In fact, this quote was in many of Biden’s political ads during his run for president in 2020. The left has spent years trying to convince people that Trump is in league with white supremacists and other radicals. This has just been their favorite way to do just that. So, the speech that Joe Biden gave is nothing special.

The second thing you should know is the context of those events from that summer and what led to Trump’s controversial press conference. During 2017, it was popular for people to protest statues and landmarks that were deemed politically incorrect or offensive. These events had an impact, sometimes even leading to the statues being taken down or replaced.

Most of the protests in Charlottesville started around a statue of Robert E. Lee, who was the General of the Confederate army during the civil war. One side wanted the monument taken down, shaming it as a symbol of racism and slavery. The other side wanted the monument to stay, celebrating it as a symbol of history and culture. Then one day some neo-Nazis and white supremacists came through the town spurring up violence against the city and the police. So, there were two main stages to the protests-one that was more about policy and the other that came after and made it violent.

The final thing you should know is what Trump said during the press conference from which this now infamous quote came. The President got a little heated when a reporter asked a leading question about the neo-Nazis whom he said started the protest to protect the monument. Trump interrupted the reporter and said, “Excuse me, they didn’t put themselves down as neo-Nazis and you had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people, that were very fine people on both sides.” A reporter tried to ask another question, but Trump continued. “You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park.” That is where Joe Biden and many other Democrats stop when they quote this speech.

However, if we keep listening for another 30 seconds Trump clarified his point. “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.” Trump was referring to how the press was falsely reporting this national watched event by throwing everyone in with the white supremacists. The fact that this is Trump’s most misreported quote shows that he was right.

Donald Trump was trying to make a speech calling for tolerance, discipline and
understanding. He wanted to protect the people who were protesting like good Americans from the media that wanted to cast them in the same light as the violent protesters. He did not just condemn the violent protesters because they were Nazis, he condemned the violence that they brought. Trump believes all opinions should be welcome. He also wants people to see things from the other’s perspectives.

The political elites in the media never want you to see things from another perspective, only theirs. They want you to say what they say, believe what they believe, and think what they think. Maybe Trump was wrong, maybe there are not “fine people on both sides.” So next time someone brings up how Trump said that, you now have the knowledge to correct them. After all, knowledge is power…and truth is liberating.