[I think we were debating two different points here.]
May be.  But I also think you are desegregating two interrelated issues.  The "both sides" seems like a throwaway line he added because the alt-right fought back while trying to paint the counter-protesters, like some have here without evidence even when directly called for it, as the instigators of the fighting.  That Trump is not merely defending the right to speak a message of hate.
I think I mentioned earlier/elsewhere that my problem isn't with Trump's message but how he delivered it.  That the way he presented his message was distinctly engineered to not alienate the part of his base that includes the KKK, Neo-nazis, and alt-right white supremacists.  If we only look at the way Duke et. al have responded to his statements it is clear that there was significant wiggle room for Trump to continue being supported.  Especially after Trump doubled down on his Saturday statement on Tuesday.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.