At the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Monday night, President Joe Biden reiterated a claim about former President Donald Trump's response to the 2017 Charlottesville rally, sparking renewed discussion about the accuracy of his interpretation.

Biden told the audience, "I ran for president in 2020 because of what I saw in Charlottesville in August of 2017." He described the scene, mentioning "extremists coming out of the woods carrying torches" and "chanting the same exact antisemitic bile that was heard in Germany in the early '30s."

The president then quoted Trump as saying, "There are very fine people on both sides," following the events in Charlottesville. Biden added, "My God, that's what he said. That is what he said and what he meant."

Donald Trump never said that the Charlottesville Nazis were very fine people.

It never has been true and never will be true.

Biden is ending his career as he began it: A liar.
pic.twitter.com/p21xTwYhoz

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 20, 2024

However, a review of Trump's press conference on August 15, 2017, reveals a more nuanced statement. Trump explicitly said, "I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally." He clarified that he was referring to "many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists," whom he believed the press had treated unfairly.

Trump also acknowledged that there were "some fine people" in the other group, but noted the presence of "troublemakers" as well, describing them as coming "with the black outfits and with the helmets and with the baseball bats."

Biden's interpretation of Trump's remarks has been a cornerstone of his political narrative since 2019. The president has consistently used this interpretation as a key motivation for his 2020 presidential run, stating at the DNC that it was the moment he realized he "could not stay on the sidelines."

Biden just repeated the "very fine people" smear against Trump

Trump condemned the racists at the Charlottesville protest: "I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally"pic.twitter.com/AejOrmJVMO

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) August 20, 2024