Did a Civil Rights Non-Profit Fund the KKK?

🗂️ Background: The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) – a non-profit founded in 1971 to advance the civil rights movement – has been charged by a federal grand jury with secretly funneling $4.1 million in tax-exempt donations between 2010-2023 to individuals associated with violent extremist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), neo-Nazis, and other white supremacist organizations. The SPLC claims the money they paid informants helped save lives. On Tuesday (June 9, 2026), the House Judiciary Committee held its second hearing on the issue.

The case has placed renewed focus on the 2017 Charlottesville tragedy – where a man fatally drove his car into a group of protestors during a "Unite the Right" rally. The grand jury indictment claims the SPLC paid a "field source" – who was not a member of an extremist organization before seeking employment with the SPLC – more than $300,000. The source then became a member of the online leadership chat group that helped plan the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, and – at SPLC’s direction – attended the event and "assisted in arranging transportation for others involved in the movement".

According to the indictment, the Unite the Right rally led to a "massive fundraising windfall for the SPLC with open-source media reporting that the SPLC more than doubled their previous year's reported revenue from private and corporate donations" following the rally. 

Several days after the rally, President Trump gave a press conference where his comments regarding "very fine people on both sides" ignited outrage. However, resurfaced footage of Trump’s full statement refutes initial reporting and further challenges the Charlottesville narrative. 

Both issues are explored below (including a transcript of Trump’s comments) – and today’s The Left Has a Point is one you won’t want to miss.

What happened in Charlottesville?

The following timeline provides important context:

• March 2016: Charlottesville City Council receives a petition to remove the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from (previously named) Lee Park
• February 2017: City Council announces plans to remove the statue and rename the park (see the Council’s February 6, 2017 Meeting Minutes for background)
• March 20, 2017: Opponents of the City's plans file a lawsuit
• June 13, 2017: Local resident Jason Kessler (who later admitted in court to extremist organization ties) gets a permit to conduct a demonstration – protesting the City’s plans – called “Unite the Right” in Lee Park on August 12, 2017
• June 2017: In the following weeks, the City also grants permits to groups supporting the City’s plans to counter-protest in other nearby parks (but not in Lee Park)
• August 7, 2017: The City revokes Kessler’s permit
• August 11, 2017: Kessler sues and is granted preliminary injunctive relief – meaning he can proceed with his permit and demonstration
• August 12, 2017: The Unite the Right protest takes place; counter-protests are held nearby; during the protest, a man named James Fields drives a car into a group of the counter-protestors, killing one person, Heather Heyer, and injuring nine others
• August 15, 2017: President Trump holds a press conference, giving his "very fine people" statement

NOTE: Lee Park was eventually renamed "Emancipation Park" and later "Market Street Park".

What did Trump actually say?

Trump’s "very fine people" comment occurred during a wide-ranging press conference. A transcript of the relevant sections – both before and, more importantly: after the actual quote – is provided below (with minute markers):