Trump Tells Violent, Far-Right Group: ‘Stand Back and Stand By’

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump urged a violent, far-right group to “stand by” during a heated exchange over race relations in America while debating Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Asked by moderator Chris Wallace to disavow White supremacist groups and right-wing militia, Trump said “sure” but refused to explicitly do so. He instead said “who would you like me to condemn?”

When Biden suggested the Proud Boys, a far-right neo-fascist organization, Trump said they should “stand back and stand by.”

On Wednesday, Trump spokesman Hogan Gidley said the president had condemned White supremacists in the past and had also done so at the debate. “He said ‘sure’ three times, he has done it in the past multiple times,” Gidley said on CNN. “I don’t know how many ways you want him to say it and how many times you want him to say it.”

But Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the chamber, said he believes that Trump “misspoke,” adding that the president should correct his statement if that’s the case.

“I think he misspoke in response to Chris Wallace’s comment,” Scott told reporters in the Capitol. “He was asking Chris what he wanted to say. I think he misspoke. I think he should correct it. If he doesn’t correct it I guess he didn’t misspeak.”

The Proud Boys organization started in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes to fight “political correctness” and a “White guilt” agenda, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The group has participated in rallies across the U.S., including a violent clash with protesters in Portland, Oregon, in 2018. They also attended the “Unite the Right” rally alongside other White supremacist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.

Following the debate exchange, members of the Proud Boys were celebrating the president’s comments on platforms such as Parler and Telegram.

Joe Biggs, a Proud Boys supporter on social media who organized anti-antifa protests in Portland posted, “This makes me so happy.” The post was viewed 12,000 times in two hours and spread across mainstream platforms. Biggs soon followed-up the post with a logo adopting the president’s debate-night statement as a Proud Boys slogan. It was viewed just over 9,000 times in an hour on Parler.

Another supporter of the group on Parler simply stated, “standing by sir.” It was viewed 12,000 times in two hours.

In response to Trump’s comments, Anti-Defamation League Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that Trump “owes America an apology or an explanation. Now.”

Trump said the real problem is with the far-left anti fascist movement known as antifa, which the president has called a terrorist organization. Biden responded by referring to recent comments by FBI Director Chris Wray that antifa is an ideology not an organization.

Chad Wolf, Trump’s nominee to lead the agency in charge of curbing domestic terrorism, told senators earlier this month that White supremacists have become the “most persistent and lethal threat” to the U.S. from within the country.

“Everything I see is from the left wing, not the right wing” Trump said. “Somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left, because this is not a right-wing problem.”

After the debate, the Trump campaign tweeted clips of him previously condemning racism and the Ku Klux Klan.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.