WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he knew the far-right organization Proud Boys discussed in this week’s presidential debate, his first reaction to the negative reactions he won for condemning hate organizations.
The organizers of the organization made up exclusively of men described themselves as “Western chauvinists”. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal advocacy organization, called the organization a hate group. During Tuesday’s debate, Trump told them to “back off and walk away. “
Trump’s comments, such as his inability to condemn white supremacists, provoked a bipartisan backlash.
“I don’t know who the Proud Boys are, yet whoever they are, they have to retire. Let law enforcement do its job,” Trump said as he left for the Crusades in Minnesota.
Trump said he “has denounced any form. “
Debate moderator Chris Wallace suggested Trump tuesday condemn white supremacy and militias. When Trump called for an express group, Biden talked about the Proud Boys.
“Proud Boys — step back and walk away,” the president replied before moving on to left-wing violence: “Someone has to do anything that opposes the anti-veh. “
More: Trump avoids condemning white supremacists
Trump caught the attention of Democrats and Republicans for not explicitly denouncing white supremacy. Trump’s advisers pointed to the president’s initial reaction to Wallace, when he said he was “willing to do anything” because he sought to “see peace. “
His comment “resist” followed the Proud Boys, who turned to social media to promote what they saw as validation.
FBI Director Christoper Wray told a Congressional panel last week that white supremacists were part of several movements that led to violent clashes in protests.
While Trump’s aides have argued that the story was a media creation, several Republicans close to the White House have criticized the president’s response.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican for Ky. , said it was “unacceptable not to condemn white supremacists. “McConnell referred to S. R. C. , Senator Tim Scott, who encouraged Trump to “correct. “On “Fox and Friends,” a television screen that is usually Trump-friendly territory, host Brian Kilmeade said Trump “has blown up the biggest thing in the history of the debate in Array. condemning white supremacists. “
Since his crusade was officially announced in April 2019, Biden has criticized Trump for saying after a violent white nationalist demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, that there were “other very intelligent people on both sides. “At the Unite the Right rally in 2017, a white supremacist killed a woman while driving his car through a crowd of counter-demonstrators.
Trump’s crusade argued that his comments had been taken out of context and that Biden was salivating for the president by opting for his comments.
Faced with a complaint after the rally, Trump condemned white supremacy and hate groups.
“We condemn in the most powerful terms this blatant demonstration of hatred, intolerance and violence. He has no position in the United States,” Trump said on August 14, 2017. Racism is bad. And those who cause violence on their behalf are criminals and thugs, adding the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate teams that repudiate everything we cherish as Americans.