Not only that, he then went on to complain[1] about the removal of "beautiful" Confederate statues, effectively siding with the Neo-Nazis, who were in Charlottesville specifically to protest the removal of a Confederade statue.

This is par for the course for Trump, who (only when under extreme political pressure from his own party) will belatedly condemn right-wing extremists with one corner of his mouth, but give them a verbal wink with the other.

[1] - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40965029

Arguing against removal of Confederate statues is not siding with neo-nazis.

(Corollary: arguing for the removal doesn't make you a violent Antifa Communist.)

Condoleeza Rice, an African American woman with political clout and experience, has argued we should keep the statues. Others have made a strong case for removing statues of people who committed treason.

But whatever your view, this should be done legally and peacefully. No mobs tearing down statues, no pitchfork-wielding defense of statues. We live in a democracy. Exercise it.

Nit: it does quite literally mean you are on the same side as the neo-nazis, at least in that case.

Ah, yes, complaining about the removal of statues is siding with neo-nazis now.

False equivalence was bad, yes. Such is politics.

President Trump equates the alt-right racists and the Antifa violent Communists for political purposes. President Obama equated Israelis and Palestinian terrorists for political purposes[0].

People find it hard to condemn violence when their side is doing it; they point out wrongs in the other side to soften or excuse their side's violence.

[0]: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/227669/re-cairo-speech...

On Mass Hysteria Bubbles http://blog.dilbert.com/post/164297628606/how-to-know-youre-...