It was an easy call to denounce torch-bearing Nazis and white nationalists. Trump’s stubbornness got the better of him.
Was he to ignore the hammer-and-sickle flags that are clearly visible with the counter-protesters?
When the left denounces their rent-a-mob’s symbols of hate, then Trump can denounce those of the extreme right. Otherwise, this was just an exercise in free speech by Americans entitled to do so.
I'm similar though. When you tell me how and when I have to say XYZ... that's the last thing I'm going to want to say, even if I agree with it. I'll go more general, and leave it at that. We old farts are allowed to be stubborn like that. ;)