President Donald Trump is not backing down from his remarks following the deadly protests in Virginia, blaming both sides for the carnage. Josh Robin filed the following report.
The president has a message for those who came to Virginia in the name of white Christian power and Confederate pride.
"Very fine people, on both sides," he said.
Speaking heatedly, and this time with no TelePrompTer, Trump charged that counter-protesters - the alt-left, he says - also had blood on their hands.
He made no mention that a suspected white separatist activist is charged with ramming a car into a crowd, killing someone.
"You had a group on one side that was bad and a group on the other side that was also very violent," Trump said. "And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now. You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent."
In all, it was a shocking 21st-century scene, poking anew the centuries-old wounds of race and religion in the United States. And it was further shocking that the president made the remarks in his hometown of New York City, long seen as a haven for the persecuted.
Comments on Virginia also eclipsed other important developments from Tuesday.
For one, the president is reversing Obama-era policies, allowing major federally funded projects in areas liable to flood in the era of rising seas.
For another, Trump offered weak support for White House advisor Steve Bannon.
And finally, the president criticized Senator John McCain. The Arizona Republican denied Trump a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
That vote is seen as slowing momentum for other parts of Trump's agenda. But so, too, are Trump's own words and actions. And Tuesday may make it even worse.