Did trump say nazis were fine people
Executive summary
Donald Trump did say the phrase “you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides” in the aftermath of the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which included neo-Nazis and white supremacists [1] — a line that many critics and victims read as equating some participants who displayed Nazi symbols with counterprotesters [2]. Trump and his allies have pointed to other sentences in the same remarks in which he says he “condemned neo-Nazis and white supremacists,” producing competing interpretations: the factual record shows he uttered the “very fine people” line and also issued condemnations, but whether that amounts to saying “Nazis were fine people” is a contested judgment rooted in tone and context [3] [4].
1. The plain words on the record
At a White House event three days after the August 2017 Charlottesville clashes, Trump told reporters “you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides,” language captured in transcripts