After the first presidential debate on Tuesday, Democrats savaged President Donald Trump as a “white supremacist” and even Republicans said they wished the president had vocally condemned white supremacists. Trump clarified his remarks on Wednesday, explaining that he did not know who the Proud Boys are, insisting that he has “always denounced any form” of white supremacy, and demanding that Democratic nominee Joe Biden vocally denounce antifa.
During the debate, Fox News anchor and moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump, “Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups” — Trump cut in, saying, “Sure” — “and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha and as we’ve seen in Portland?”
“Sure, I’m willing to do that,” the president responded. “I would say almost everything I see is from the left-wing, not from the right-wing. I’m willing to do anything, I want to see peace.”
“Well, then do it, sir,” Wallace said. “Do it. Say it,” Biden chimed in.
“What do you want to call them? Give me a name. Give me a name,” Trump said.
“White supremacists and right-wing militias,” Wallace said. Biden also spoke over him, saying, “White supremacists, Proud Boys.”
Trump, flustered, addressed the only named group, the Proud Boys. “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” the president said. “But I tell you what, I tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the Left.”
It would have been more satisfying if Trump had said, “Of course I denounce white supremacists like I’ve been doing for years. And to the Proud Boys, I say, ‘Stand down, and let law enforcement do their jobs.'” Yet it seems, in the heat of the moment, the president realized he did not have much time and he wanted to say, “Sure,” give a quick statement urging militia groups to stand down, and then go after his opponent.
Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) quickly seized on this clip as evidence that “Trump is a white supremacist.” Yet Trump has repeatedly denounced and condemned white supremacy and white supremacists like the Ku Klux Klan.
As PJ Media’s Stacey Lennox pointed out, Chris Wallace should know. Trump firmly denounced the KKK and white supremacists in a presidential debate in 2016 — after Wallace asked him. “I totally disavow the Ku Klux Klan. I totally disavow David Duke. I’ve been doing it now for two weeks,” then-candidate Trump said. “That question was also talked about in the form of groups, groups. I want to know, which groups are you...
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