The most jarring part of Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman probably is the inclusion of real-life footage of the Charlottesville riots, leaving protester Heather Heyer dead. The footage is in the film, of course, to put an exclamation point on the message Lee wants to say that racism is still alive. But Lee said it’s also to remind people that Donald Trump gave the alt-right more understanding than he gave to Heyer and the counter-protesters.

Lee told The Hollywood Reporter Monday, August 6, during the film’s New York premiere that the decision to include the footage happened “before we started shooting.”

“I was in Martha’s Vineyard and watching CNN and saw a homegrown, American apple pie act of terrorism.” Lee also said he included clips of Trump saying there was “blame on both sides” and that the counter-protestors were “also very violent.”

“He said those things,” Lee said to the outlet. “And people need to be reminded that the current president of the United States says things like that.”

It’s also important to remember that Lee included a parallel to Trump in the film. As we reported recently, one of the clips from the film features Topher Grace as former Klan leader David Duke saying “America First.” If you recall, that’s also the same slogan Trump used for his presidential campaign.

The message in BlacKkKlansman is strong, and, as Aramide A. Tinubu wrote in her review of the film, “Lee’s work has never been subtle, and this film is no exception. The filmmaker draws bold parallels between the formal creation of the Klan after D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film Birth of the Nation and he civil rights movement’s waning influence giving rise to more rampant white supremacy that gave birth to Trump’s America.” Lee’s brand of brash truth-telling continues and perhaps his inclusion of Charlottesville might be his most in-your-face moment yet.

BlacKkKlansman is in theaters now.