Former Trump White House Lawyer Criticizes Donald Trump for Linking Charlottesville Rally to Pro-Palestine Protests

Former Trump White House lawyer Jim Schultz has criticized Donald Trump for linking the 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, to the ongoing pro-Palestine protests across US colleges. Schultz, who was an associate White House counsel at the time of the rally, described Trump’s mention of Charlottesville as a “big mistake” and politically damaging.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Schultz emphasized the negative impact of Trump’s remarks, stating, “Just the fact that he’s mentioning Charlottesville has to make his campaign cringe at this point, right?” He recalled the backlash the former president faced for his comments on the rally and asserted that Trump’s remarks were a “big mistake on his part, politically, to raise that.”

Trump’s trial, which focuses on allegations of hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, provided a platform for the former president to make comments regarding current events. While speaking outside the trial venue in New York, Trump compared the Charlottesville rally to pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, downplaying the significance of the former event.

His remarks drew criticism from various quarters, including the White House. Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates rebuked Trump’s comments, stating, “Minimizing the anti-Semitic and white supremacist poison displayed in Charlottesville is repugnant and divisive.”

The Charlottesville rally, held in August 2017, was a gathering of white supremacists protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The event turned violent as participants chanted anti-Semitic and racist slogans, resulting in the death of a counter protester and injuries to others. The incident sparked widespread condemnation and reignited discussions about racial tensions and hate groups in the United States.