A few of Donald Trump’s largest and latest supporters from finance and Silicon Valley, together with Elon Musk and Invoice Ackman, have spent the previous a number of weeks making an attempt to whitewash feedback the previous president and present Republican presidential nominee made in relation to the Unite the Proper rally in Charlottesville in 2017.
Up to now week, the Kamala Harris presidential marketing campaign and President Joe Biden each highlighted Trump’s August 15, 2017 remark, when the previous president mentioned there have been “very advantageous individuals on either side” of the clashes that adopted the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville.
For years, Trump supporters have defended his feedback, claiming he was talking a few nonexistent group of nonracist rallygoers who have been there simply to protest the removing of a statue of Accomplice normal Robert E. Lee.
Whereas Trump did condemn the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who took half within the rally, those that lined the occasion have repeatedly identified that solely extremists have been concerned within the march, together with members of the so-called alt-right, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and far-right militias. Trump’s “advantageous individuals” feedback have been at greatest deceptive and at worst tacit help for extremists, regardless of his subsequent disavowal. Trump has constantly been slammed by critics for his feedback, however false claims from Trump supporters have persevered. They resurfaced earlier this yr when a Snopes truth examine titled “No, Trump Did Not Name Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists ‘Very High quality Folks.’” Snopes later added an editor’s notice, clarifying that these masking the rally mentioned it was “conceived of, led by, and attended by white supremacists, and that subsequently Trump’s characterization was mistaken.”
However over the previous few weeks, Trump’s supporters in Silicon Valley and Wall Road—a few of whom started formally supporting the previous president following his assassination try final month—have additionally tried to rewrite historical past.
David Marcus, the crypto entrepreneur and CEO of Lightspark who has been a Democratic Social gathering supporter for years, posted final month that he was now backing Trump’s marketing campaign.
In an X put up final week that has been considered 33 million occasions, Marcus claimed that Trump’s “very advantageous individuals” remark had been purposely taken out of context by the media. “Realizing that this was and continues to be a lie was a turning level for me,” Marcus wrote on X, quoting a put up from the official Harris marketing campaign account that marked the seven-year anniversary since Trump made the feedback.
In response to Marcus’ put up, Shaun Maguire, a associate at enterprise capital agency Sequoia Capital, wrote: “Completely agree.” Hours after the assassination try final month, Maguire mentioned he was donating $300,000 to the Trump marketing campaign.
This wasn’t the primary time Maguire challenged what occurred in Charlottesville: In June, Maguire cited a put up from disinformation account Finish Wokeness and wrote on X: “Bear in mind Charlottesville when Trump known as neo-Nazis very advantageous individuals? I solely noticed the complete clip for the primary time at this time. It’s a should watch—he actually CONDEMNS the Neo Nazis and white nationalists.”
