J Street is outraged and horrified by President Trump’s press conference today, which marked an appalling and astounding new low for his tenure and, in some ways, for the history of the American presidency.

Speaking about last weekend’s events in Charlottesville, VA, the president unconscionably, for the second time, drew false equivalence between violent neo-Nazis chanting anti-Semitic and other bigoted slogans and the counter-protesters who rallied to resist their message and acts of hate, stating that “I think there’s blame on both sides.” He disgracefully described some of the white supremacist, neo-Nazi marchers as “very fine people.” Just two days after the brave young woman Heather Heyer was murdered by a neo-Nazi, the president demonstrated zero understanding of or concern for the terrible threat posed by far-right extremism and violence.

President Trump today made unequivocally clear that he lacks the basic decency and moral understanding that should be required of any public official, let alone the President of the United States. There are simply no excuses for his comments and his conduct in this matter.