CLAIM: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said during Monday’s virtual speech at the Democratic National Convention that President Trump has been coddling white nationalists.
VERDICT: False. President Trump has explicitly condemned the “KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups,” despite Joe Biden’s (D) and the Democrats’ insistence on repeating the thoroughly debunked “very fine people” hoax.
During his speech, Sanders suggested that Trump created a chaotic world where immigrants are demonized, women are attacked, and white nationalists are coddled.
“Joe Biden will end the hate and division Trump has created,” Sanders said during his speech. “He will stop the demonization of immigrants, the coddling of white nationalists, the racist dog-whistling, the religious bigotry, and the ugly attacks on women.”
Sanders’ assertion — that Trump has protected white nationalists — has been a sticking point for the left, despite the fact that it not rooted in fact. The repeated talking point stems from Charlottesville’s “very fine people” hoax.
As Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak has detailed extensively:
President Trump repeatedly condemned the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville in August 2017 — “totally.”
Moreover, the neo-Nazis were not the only violent group in Charlottesville. The “clash” was not with those “standing against” hate peacefully, but with violent, black-clad Antifa extremists.
As to “very fine people,” Trump had been referring to peaceful protests both for and against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
“Racism is evil,” Trump said at the White House in August 2017. “And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
Despite Trump’s repeated condemnation of racism, violence, and neo-Nazis — as well as zero evidence of Trump championing racist ideologies — Joe Biden and the Democrats continue to advance the debunked narrative:
Three years ago today, white supremacists descended on Charlottesville with torches in hand and hate in their hearts. Our president said they were "very fine people."
It was clear then, and it's clear now: We are in a battle for the soul of our nation, and we must win.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 12, 2020
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