MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On August 12, white nationalists, also called the alt-right movement, held a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the authorities' plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a city park. The rally subsequently led to clashes with counter-protesters and culminated in a car-ramming attack that killed one person and injured 19 others.
Half of the US population oppose the alt-right movement, 10 percent said that they support the group, while 41 percent indicated that the are unfamiliar with the issue, according to the poll, conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post.
Respondents were divided on the issue of whether the US alt-right movement shares neo-Nazi views. While 39 percent said that the group does hold such views, the same proportion of individuals have no opinion on the matter. Twenty-one percent rejected the claim, according to the survey.
The majority of those surveyed (56 percent) disapproved of US President Donald Trump's response to the Charlottesville incident, while 28 percent commended his remarks, the poll showed.
The survey was conducted by phone on August 16-20 among 1,014 respondents.
Commenting on the events in Charlottesville, Trump initially hesitated to condemn the white supremacists and instead spoke about racism and bigotry on "many sides." However, after facing sharp criticism from the US public, Trump condemned white supremacists and other hate groups for the incident.
