Former President Trump on Thursday downplayed the severity of the deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., compared to the mounting demonstrations on college campuses over the war in Gaza.
Trump noted in a post on Truth Social that President Biden frequently points to the Charlottesville rally, and Trump’s response to it, as a reason he ran for the White House in 2020.
“Well, if that’s the case, he’s done a really terrible job because Charlottesville is like a ‘peanut’ compared to the riots and anti-Israel protests that are happening all over our Country, RIGHT NOW,” Trump wrote.
“And it’s Crooked’s fault because he sends the wrong message every single time,” Trump added, claiming Biden “HATES” both Israel and the Palestinians.
The August 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville served as a major flashpoint early in Trump’s first term as white supremacists, who had chanted antisemitic slogans and marched with tiki torches on the first night of the rally, clashed with counterprotesters.
Heather Heyer, a counterprotester, was killed after James Alex Fields drove his car into a crowd.
Trump initially condemned the white supremacists, but he was widely criticized when he followed up by saying there was blame on “both sides,” as well as “very fine people on both sides.”
Biden’s announcement video in 2020 largely focused on the Charlottesville rally and Trump’s handling of it, calling it a “defining moment” for the country. He refers to the event frequently during speeches to donors, saying it is what spurred him to run and defeat Trump.
Trump’s post came as college campus protests over the war between Israel and Hamas, which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, have garnered nationwide attention. Lawmakers have traveled to Columbia University in New York City, where demonstrations on campus have sparked criticism for some antisemitic elements.
Biden has condemned antisemitism in the protests, but he also has condemned those who “don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
The president has for months sought to walk a careful line, publicly vowing support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas after last October’s attack by the group killed more than 1,100 Israelis, while simultaneously pushing Israel to do more to protect civilians in Gaza.