More Americans think Trump supports white nationalism than believe he opposes it

The poll results come after Mr Trump's latest comments on the rally in Charlottesville, Virginia

President Donald Trump stops to respond to more questions about his responses to the violence, injuries and deaths at the 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville (REUTERS)

In the wake of Donald Trump’s comments on the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, more Americans believe the President supports white nationalism than believe he opposes it.

A Huffington Post/YouGov survey shows just 22 per cent of Americans believe Mr Trump is personally opposed to the ideology – which advocates for a separate nation for white people – compared to 31 per cent who believe he supports it.

Another 24 per cent believe Mr Trump does not have a strong opinion on the matter, and the remaining 24 per cent are unsure.

The poll was conducted shortly after Mr Trump made his third comments on the subject, walking back his condemnation of white nationalist groups and morally equating them with those who protested their rally in Virginia.

“You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent,” Mr Trump said on Tuesday.

The rally in question was said to be the largest white nationalist gathering in decades, organised to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. Various white supremacist, “alt-right,” and neo-Nazi groups were in attendance. Some attendees carried Confederate flags, brandished swastikas, and chanted “Jews will not replace us”.

Counter protesters also gathered in Charlottesville to oppose the rally, which eventually devolved into violence. Dozens of people were injured, and three died in connection with the gathering.

One woman, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, died after a man drove a car through a crowd of counter-protesters. The suspect in the attack, James Alex Fields, is reported to be a Nazi sympathiser.

Sixty-three per cent of those who responded to the Huffington Post/YouGov survey said the incident was a terrorist attack. Mr Trump – who has jumped at the chance to condemn “radical Islamic terror” in the past – has yet to do so.

“You can call it terrorism,” he said on Tuesday. “You can call it murder. You can call it whatever you want.”

Almost half of Americans now say Mr Trump has not done enough to condemn the violence in Charlottesville. The same number believe he should have acted faster in calling out the KKK, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis by name. Only 30 per cent believe the President has spoken sufficiently on the issue.

Only half of Americans, however, say that the political positions of the rally attendees were wrong. Twenty-one per cent believe the white nationalist attendees “went too far, but they have a point”.