The first 2024 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump saw a heated exchange over the 2017 Charlottesville rally. Biden reiterated his claim that Trump had called neo-Nazis “very fine people” following the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. However, Trump forcefully refuted this claim, citing a recent fact check by the left-leaning website Snopes that debunked Biden’s assertion.
Trump stated that Biden’s narrative about the Charlottesville events had been “totally wiped out” and that the Snopes fact check had “fully debunked” it. He accused Biden of using the Charlottesville incident as an excuse to run for president, emphasizing that his decision to run stemmed from the events in Iraq after his son’s death.
Trump also highlighted the contrasting reactions from Republican, Independent, and Democratic voters during the debate. Republican and Independent voters responded favorably to Trump’s pushback against Biden’s narrative, while Democratic voters remained supportive of Biden’s statement.
Biden, on the other hand, continued to portray the Charlottesville rally as a defining moment of intolerance and a catalyst for his 2020 presidential run. He described seeing “people coming out of the woods carrying swastikas or torches and singing the same antisemitic bile they sang back in Germany” and questioned how any American president could consider such individuals “fine people.”
The debate revealed a stark contrast in perspectives on the Charlottesville event and its significance in shaping the current political landscape. Trump asserted that Biden’s claim was a “hoax” and a “lie” perpetuated by Democrats and the media. Meanwhile, Biden presented the event as a clear example of Trump’s alleged tolerance for white supremacists and hate groups, emphasizing his own opposition to such ideologies.
The Snopes fact check, which Trump repeatedly referenced, concluded that Trump had specifically stated he wasn’t referring to neo-Nazis and White supremacists when he said “very fine people on both sides.” The fact check ultimately deemed Biden’s claim “False.”
The debate exchange highlighted the ongoing controversy surrounding the Charlottesville rally and its role in the 2024 presidential election. It remains a point of contention between the two candidates, with each seeking to leverage it for political gain and to define their respective stances on issues of race, hate, and intolerance.
