[Snopes] No, Trump Did Not Call Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists 'Very Fine People'

While we're reliving Charlottesville and the "fine people" on the right...

White Supremacists Joked About Using Cars to Run Over Opponents Before Charlottesville
Leaked chat room conversations reveal expectations of violence — along with detailed planning and intelligence gathering on left-wing adversaries.

by George Joseph

Aug. 28, 2017, 2:53 p.m. EDT

Nearly a month before a car driven by an alleged neo-Nazi plowed into counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, white supremacists planning the “Unite the Right” rally joked about using vehicles to run over their opponents.

That message and thousands of other conversations among white supremacists were leaked from a chat app called Discord and posted on the website of a left-wing media collective called Unicorn Riot. Many users’ participation could not be verified, but ProPublica was able to confirm that two people whose statements were included in the leaked trove made the comments attributed to them.

The pre-Charlottesville chats include discussions of potential violence, the use of weapons, and excitement at the prospect of “fighting for the white race.”

Continued...

 

Actually, Snopes did address this way back in 2020 as a part of a wider fact check on did Trump condemn White Supremacy. This is the actual text..

During an Aug. 15, 2017, press conference, Trump said his earlier reference to "very fine people" pertained to demonstrators who are in favor of preserving Confederate monuments rather than removing them, and he added: "I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally."

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-condemn-white-supremacists/

 

So bottom line is that Trump didn't claim neo-Nazis specifically were very fine people.

But what he did say was wrong, offensive, and tries to equate the side of neo-Nazis and a murderer with the group that was there to protest this.

The group that organized are known self proclaimed white supremacists. They chanted "Jews Will Not Replace Us" as they carried torches. Pointing out that Trump didn't signal out neo-Nazis as very fine people still isn't a victory. At best, it's as if a basketball team lost the a game by 40 points and then after review their last second 3-pointer did beat the buzzer, so they really only lost by 37.

 

Did someone in the "pro-Hamas" camp murder counter protesters by intentionally running the over with their car?

 

Continuing with Trump's failures as a leader and human being...

Bob Woodward: Trump thought Charlottesville cleanup ‘biggest f—ing mistake I’ve made’
By Jeremy Herb and Jamie Gangel, CNN
Updated 2:30 AM EDT, Thu September 6, 2018

Bob Woodward’s upcoming book offers new insights into President Donald Trump’s anger over advisers’ efforts to clean up his explosive “both sides” remark on the violence last year at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s new book, “Fear: Trump in the White House,” is being released September 11. CNN obtained a copy.

Trump’s August 2017 remarks concluding there was “blame on both sides” for the violence was a stunning moment early in his presidency that ignited a backlash over his views on race and consumed the White House for days. The new revelations may reopen that debate.

In the book, Woodward describes how then-White House staff secretary Rob Porter worked with Trump to write a second speech to try to repair his initial comments about violence at the marches.

Porter tried to convince the President he needed to clarify his remarks. But Trump appeared to resist, according to the book, repeatedly saying: “I don’t know about this. … This doesn’t feel right to me.”

Eventually, Trump agreed, and two days later in a televised speech he denounced racism, the “KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups.” Woodward describes how White House aides were relieved, and chief of staff John Kelly encouraged staff to tell the President what a good job he did.

But then Trump turned on the TV.

One Fox News commentator gave Trump praise but also added, “That’s almost an admission of ‘Okay, I was wrong.’” Then Fox News correspondent Kevin Corke said: “Some 48 hours into the biggest domestic challenge of his young presidency, Mr. Trump has made a course correction.”

Trump exploded at the coverage, Woodward reports. “That was the biggest ****ing mistake I’ve made,” the President told Porter. “You never make those concessions. You never apologize. I didn’t do anything wrong in the first place. Why look weak?”

Trump continued venting to Porter, Woodward writes. “I can’t believe I got forced to do that,” he said. “That’s the worst speech I’ve ever given. I’m never going to do anything like that again.”

Continued...

 

I have issues with that letter much like the scientists who signed that letter to discredit the Wuhan leak when they either didn't do due diligence or had favors with the CCP or Chinese colleagues ("scientific community over politics" lulz).

In this case though, the unartful parsing of Trump's speech is much like the actual letter these intelligence agencies crafted and signed.

They didn't claim the laptop files were fake or was an actual Russian hoax, rather it had the hallmarks of a Russian psyop, which the dutiful Trump-hating journos dutifully lapped up and exaggerated and to prevent another Comey Incident.

Much like the scientists, they cashed their career credibility for political currency.

And people wonder why faith in these intuitions aren't better than they should be...

But yeah... Fact checkers...media... political hacks... A day will come when people cross reference sources/documents with different bots for their own account of the story then aggregate that against incorrect and dumb narratives and click bait titles.

It's one good use of language models to make sense of a flooded zone while never forgetting the lies politician and the media claims.

 

My issue with the media coverage was that the ultra right groups had the permits.

I don't understand why go out and protest their marches. Their march is a b**** fest because they lost. They're b****ing because the statues are coming down. Let them b****

 

The neo-Nazi groups did have the permits. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be covered or that it's wrong to shine a light on what they believe. The media would only be wrong to say they didn't have a right to march and chant their antisemitic chants.

 

I didn't say don't cover it, I said don't protest. Why protest them, YOU ALREADY WON

 

What PGA is saying is that if you're going to protest the 'bigots', then get a permit. or else STFU.

This is an extremely hard concept for authoritarians like yourself to understand - The right to protest people who disagree with you is one of the shining attributes of our style of governance. Being 'correct' or 'sanctimonious' doesn't exclude you from rule of law.

 

Not so much, protesting isn't illegal but the media should have made it clear they didn't need to be there.

Again the parade is just a b**** fest because they lost.

 

I'm not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.

The organizers got a permit because they were going to need police for traffic and crowd control and probably the right to take over a public space and use a PA system, etc.

Counter protestors don't have to get a permit to show up and boo. As long as they're not stopping the event or otherwise creating a problem for the public, they're allowed to be there and do everything the attendees are doing in-kind.

 

My whole post was supporting the right of neo-Nazis to march protest and shout their antisemitic chants. I'm not sure what is authoritarian about that.

 

I find it hard to criticize those that show up to counter neo-Nazis.

 

What were they going to accomplish? Changing the neo nazis's minds? They made it a news story

 

Yes. The neo-Nazis beliefs deserve to be exposed to the light.

 

How lame.

Heads are not exploding.

 

How many James O'Keefe videos have you posted?

 

Their beliefs had already been exposed. They lost, the statues were coming down.

 

Well, at least we've properly moved the goal posts from "they had no right to be there" to "being there was a bad idea".

I tend to agree that 'counter protesting' is usually unproductive at best, though I can see why showing up to **** on white nationalists doing white nationalist things can be seen as a moral imperative, but the counter-protestors didn't 'make it a news story'. The neckbearded cellar dwellar who killed someone did the heavy lifting there. If no one showed up to protest it wouldn't have gotten anything more than maybe some state and local coverage. The violence made it a regional news story. The murder made it a national news story.

Whining about truth and fact checkers while actively lying and sh1tposting un-referenced nonsense from Twitter all day is a special kind of irony.