No, not the same. One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) August 16, 2017
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who ran against Trump in the Republican primaries, also responded in a series of tweets.
"The organizers of events which inspired and led to #charlottesvilleterroristattack are 100 percent to blame for a number of reasons," Rubio began.
"Mr. President, you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of the blame. They support idea which cost nation and world so much pain … the #WhiteSupremacy groups will see being assigned only 50 percent of the blame as a win," he added."We all need to stand up against hate and violence," said Mitch McConnell, the highest-ranking Republican in the senate.Trump backed away from his Monday statements explicitly denouncing the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists for the violence that erupted at a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, and reverted to his weekend contention that "many sides" were to blame."You had a group on one side that was bad," Trump said Tuesday. "And you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that. But I'll say it right now."Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and alt-right leader Richard Spencer applauded Trump on Twitter for his remarks.
Reuters contributed to this report.