Donald Trump once again blames 'all sides' for Charlottesville violence that killed anti-Nazi protester

Mr Trump made the comments while flying back from Florida (AP)

Donald Trump has doubled down on comments he made about there being blame on “all sides” for violence in Charlottesville, following a meeting with a black senator.

Earlier this week, the President met with Tim Scott, the only African American Republican in the US Senate. Mr Scott wanted to discuss Mr Trump’s response to the violence that left one young woman dead, and to press him to have a more diverse staff.

Mr Scott said Mr Trump was receptive to what he had to say and that he “wanted to make sure we were clear on the delineation between who’s on which side, and the history of the nation”.

But on a flight back from Florida, Mr Trump repeated his previous assertion that both sides were to blame for the violence that left 32-year-old Heather Heyer dead.

“We had a great talk yesterday. I think especially in light of the advent of Antifa, if you look at what’s going on there. You have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also and essentially that’s what I said,” Mr Trump said.

“Now, because of what’s happened since then with Antifa. When you look at really what’s happened since Charlottesville, a lot of people are saying and people have actually written, ‘Gee, Trump may have a point’. I said there’s some very bad people on the other side also.”

Mr Trump faced widespread criticism following the violence last month that also left up to 20 people injured. The clashes took place as scores of white supremacists and neo-Nazis gathered in the Virginia college town to protest over plans to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee. They were met by dozens of counterprotesters, among them Ms Heyer.

Mr Scott had previously been critical of Mr Trump’s comments, saying that there was a need for the President to display “clarity and moral authority” and that his comments about equivalence on both sides had compromised that authority. “Racism is real. It is alive. It is here,” said Mr Scott.

According to NBC, during the 40-minute meeting on Wednesday, Mr Scott said he told Trump about the history of “three or four centuries of rape, murder and death brought at the hands of the KKK and people who believe in a superior race”.

Mr Scott said after the meeting that he had made clear that there was no equivalency to those protesting white nationalism at the rally.

On Air Force One, Mr Trump was asked if Mr Scott had raised the issue of hiring more people of colour among this staff.

“We did talk about that, yeah. It’s something I do and I certainly would continue to do. We talked about that,” said Mr Trump. “I told him I would do it and he knows we’ve already done it. But I told him and I told him very strongly I like that.”

Mr Scott has yet to comments about Mr Trump’s latest remarks.