Republican strategist Scott Jennings left former Clinton administration official Maria Cardona struggling for an explanation on Sunday after he challenged her claim that former President Donald Trump inspired the violent 2017 clash in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The violence in Charlottesville resulted in one death and at least 19 injuries when left-wing counter-protesters attempted to disrupt a rally opposing the planned removal of statues honoring prominent Confederate figures in August 2017. Democrats and far-left media types have repeatedly tried to blame it on Trump, but the claim has been debunked many times over the years.

Still, Cardona asserted that Trump “spurred on and inspired” both the Charlottesville protest and the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

“Let‘s remember Charlottesville. Let‘s remember January 6th. All of those events ended in tragedy and all of those events were spurred on and inspired by the words that came out of the former president‘s mouth,” Cardona claimed, prompting Jennings to ask, “How did he inspire Charlottesville?”

“He went out there and said both sides are good people —” Cardona asserted before Jennings cut in, saying, “That was after the riot. You said he caused the riot.”

Following the riot, Trump addressed the incident after delivering remarks on infrastructure in New York City.

“Excuse me, they didn’t put themselves down as neo-Nazis, and you had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group — excuse me, excuse me, I saw the same pictures as you did — you had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name,” Trump said during an exchange with reporters.

“George Washington was a slave owner. Was George Washington a slave owner? So will George Washington now lose his status, are we gonna take down — excuse me — are we gonna take down statues of George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson? What do you think of Thomas Jefferson? You like him? Okay good. Are we gonna take down the statue? Cause he was a major slaveowner. Now are we gonna take down his statue? So you know what? It’s fine,” Trump continued. “You’re changing history, you’re changing culture, and you had people — and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally. But you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists, okay? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly.”

Cardona went on to call out Jennings over a “skeptical” look on his face.

“Yes, I’m skeptical that he caused Charlottesville,” Jennings responded.

“You know it‘s true. Yes, I do think that he did cause Charlottesville because those people —” Cardona claimed, before Jennings asked, “Who is causing the rallies on campuses?”

Since the October 7, 2023, attack by the radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas that resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 people in Israel, there have been demonstrations at various universities and colleges where anti-Israel protesters have occupied buildings, chanted slogans with implications of erasing Israel, and blocked Jewish students from accessing parts of the campus.

“Those people that were marching —” Cardona went on, before Jennings asked again, “Who’s causing the rallies on the streets of New York?”

“Let me finish. Let me finish,” Cardona snapped. “Those people that were marching were marching in support of one person. They were marching in support of Donald Trump.”

WATCH:

Here's a former Clinton official busted by CNN conservative Scott Jennings in a lie that Trump 'caused' the Charlottesville riot — over remarks he made AFTER the riot (which the garbage media took out of context). pic.twitter.com/hrG67kX3pw

— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) November 4, 2024