President Trump attempted Wednesday to clarify his position on alleged right-wing violence after ordering the patriotic men’s social club the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” in the first presidential debate held Tuesday. Trump said that he was not familiar with the group but wants them to let law enforcement handle tough situations with Antifa and Black Lives Matter violence.
“I don’t know who the Proud Boys are. I mean, you’ll have to give me a definition because I really don’t know who they are,” Trump said to reporters during the White House press briefing. “I can only say they have to stand down and let law enforcement do their work.”
The Proud Boys, a fraternal order of “Western chauvinists” who position themselves as opposed to far-left violence and often act as security detail against Antifa violence for right-wing figures at events, have been ceaselessly maligned in media and by the extreme left as allegedly endorsing white supremacist and misogynistic views.
The group has repeatedly gone on record to denounce white nationalist rhetoric and has always been accepting of all races in its membership. They have gone viral on social media over the years for being physically attacked by left-wing militants throughout the country, usually coming out on the winning side of such altercations in decisive fashion.
Trump was questioned by moderator Chris Wallace at the presidential debate Tuesday night on whether he would condemn white supremacy, to which the president quickly responded, “Sure, I’m willing to do that. But I would say almost everything I see is from the left-wing, not the right-wing. I am willing to do anything. I want to see peace.”
Democrat nominee Joe Biden then recommended Trump expressly condemn the patriot drinking club the Proud Boys, and the president replied, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” That comment caused a firestorm from progressives on social media.
“Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left, because this is not a right-wing problem,” Trump stated at the debates.
Biden quickly interjected, saying that the domestic terrorist group is “an idea, not an organization.”
President Trump shot back telling Biden, “Oh you’ve got to be kidding.”
“When a bat hits you over the head that’s not an idea,” Trump said bluntly. “Antifa is bad.”
Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, an Afro-Cuban, said he didn’t look at the president’s statement as “an endorsement.” Tarrio remarked that it was a “great moment” to be singled out by a US president and animatedly denied any idea that his men’s club was linked to white supremacy.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., informed members of the media on Wednesday that he thought Trump misspoke when he told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” but added that the president should clarify his comments if that was in fact true.
“I think he misspoke. I think he should correct it. If he doesn’t correct it, I guess he didn’t misspeak,” he told reporters while having a photo op with the newest Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.
The Trump campaign reminded reporters from Fox News that the president has disavowed white supremacy time and time again, and he condemned it “twice” during the first debate alone.
The campaign took issue with the loaded question from Wallace in the first place.
Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman, reiterated that the president’s position on white supremacy is clear, and he has condemned it “over and over and over again.”
“Just last week, the president declared the KKK a terrorist organization and it cannot be any more clear than that,” Murtaugh said, while also pointing out Trump’s Black America Plan, also called the “Platinum Plan.”
The “Platinum Plan” has a goal to “prosecute the KKK and Antifa as terrorist organizations and make lynching a national hate crime.”