Trump and Biden Debate Trump’s ‘Fine People on Both Sides’ Response to Charlottesville

During the first presidential debate of the 2024 general election, President Joe Biden repeated his long-standing claim that he was inspired to run for the presidency four years ago after witnessing the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017.

“What got me involved around the first place after my son had died,” Biden said in response to CNN moderator Jake Tapper asking if a vote for former President Donald Trump is a vote against democracy, “…I said I wasn’t going to run again until I saw what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia—people coming out of the woods carrying swastikas on torches and singing the same anti-semitic bile they sang back in Germany.”

“He said, ‘I think they’re fine people on both sides,’” Biden recounted {snip}

“This is the guy who says Hitler’s done some good things,” Biden added, referencing a claim by Trump’s former chief of staff. {snip}

“That story has been totally wiped out,” Trump shot back. “He says he ran because of Charlottesville,” the 78-year-old Republican candidate said of his 81-year-old Democratic counterpart, who defeated him in 2020. “He didn’t run because of Charlottesville. He ran because it was his last chance. He’s not equipped to be President.”

{snip}