Donald Trump says Charlottesville Nazi rally was ‘nothing’ compared to pro-Palestinian student protests

Former US president Donald Trump claims Charlottesville rally was a ‘little peanut’ in front of pro-Palestinian student protests across 21 US universities.

Former United States President Donald Trump has claimed pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses are more hateful than the notorious 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, amid his ongoing hush money trial.

Former US President Donald Trump returns from a break during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 25, 2024. (Photo by JEENAH MOON / POOL / AFP) (AFP)

He lamented the Charlottesville rally as a “little peanut” in comparison to the alleged tremendous hate seen in the student protests.

Trump, speaking to reporters outside his hush-money trial in New York, remarked that the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville was “nothing” compared to the hate purportedly expressed at student demonstrations against the war in Gaza.

“We’re having protests all over,” the former president said.

“Charlottesville was a little peanut, and it was nothing compared – and the hate wasn’t the kind of hate that you have here, this is tremendous hate.”

White House rebukes Trump's remark

The former president's remark on Truth Social drew a rebuke from the White House, with Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates calling, “Minimising the anti-Semitic and white supremacist poison displayed in Charlottesville is repugnant and divisive.”

The Charlottesville rally, held on August 11, 2017, saw white supremacists protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee while chanting, “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!”

Just the day after, James Alex Fields Jr., a self-proclaimed white supremacist, drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing Heather Heyer.

Trump's claimed “both sides” were to blame and sparked huge controversy.

Almost 21 US universities are heckling with pro-Palestine protesters

For the last couple of weeks, pro-Palestinian agitators around 21 college campuses, including George Washington University, Yale, NYU, Columbia University, and the University of Texas, have not witnessed comparable incidents of violence.

Reports of harassment and threats against Jewish students have surfaced, and President Joe Biden, House Speaker Mike Johnson, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly condemned the situation.

Several footages circulated on social media showed agitators allegedly telling Jewish students to “go back to Poland”, stopping them from going to classes and threatening them.

Chabad at Columbia University reported that protesters disparaged Jewish students, questioning their culture and telling them to “go back to Europe.”

However, last Sunday, a group of Columbia University protestors released a statement distancing themselves from “inflammatory individuals” and condemning “any form of hate or bigotry.”