Trump's race meltdown as he says 'both sides' of the 'Unite the
Right' clash had 'fine people' and violence also came from the
'alt-left' - then attacks removing Gen Lee statues, asking: 'Is
George Washington next?'

Trump turns short question and answer on infrastructure into
15-minute outburst on Charlottesville race violence with angry
exchanges with reporters Doubles down on claim there was
bigotry on both sides by saying there were 'fine people' on
both sides - and that left was also to blame for violence 'What
about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the
alt-right?' he said What about the fact that they came charging
with clubs in their hands.' Went on to attack removal of
Confederate statutes saying: 'Who next, George Washington?
George Washington owned slaves.' Repeated attacks on 'fake
news' media as he kept going for at least 15 minutes in lobby
of Trump Tower Democrats seized on the comments and condemned
them but there was backing from veteran far-right leader David
Duke who tweeted 'thank you' White House officials with one
shell-shocked aide saying: 'That wasn't in the plan. None of it
was supposed to happen.' Another repeated White House's attack
on media telling DailyMail.com: 'That's our president...said
the truth, no matter what the reporters think.' Texas
Republican Rep. Will Hurd told CNN that he had a head-hanging
single word of advice for Trump: 'Apologize.' Scroll down for a
full transcript of the Trump Tower meltdown

Donald Trump launched an extraordinary and angry defense of his
performance in the wake of the Charlottesville riots Tuesday in
a free-wheeling, finger-pointing confrontation with the press
at Trump Tower.

He lashed out at his critics following a botched response to
the weekend's Charlottesville murder, insisting that a violent
'alt-left' mob came to protests ready for war but a dishonest
news media is shielding them from blame.

The president even defended elements of the far-right protest,
claiming some were 'fine people' protesting against the removal
of Confederate symbols.

'You had some fine people. But you also had trouble makers,' he
said during a Q&A session in the lobby of Trump Tower � an
event that was supposed to be a press event about
infrastructure projects.

'You see them come with the black outfits and with the helmets
and the baseball bats,' he said, describing what he said had
happened in the Virginia college town

Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4793846/Trump-sides-blam
e-Charlottesville-riot.html#ixzz4prmuO39k Follow us:
@MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

By David Martosko, Us Political Editor For Dailymail.com and
Nikki Schwab, Us Political Reporter For Dailymail.com
PUBLISHED: 16:57 EDT, 15 August 2017 | UPDATED: 18:34 EDT, 15
August 2017