For some, the most significant moment of the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden came when the president refused to condemn white supremacist groups and told the far-right Proud Boys organization to “stand down and stand by,” presumably for future instructions on how they should use violence against minorities and left-wing protestors.
This was certainly a disturbing moment, but hardly the only one in the hour and half debate. Yet, it warranted follow-up questions on Wednesday, and Trump tried to clean things up by denying any familiarity with the Proud Boys.
Trump spoke to reporters while leaving the White House en route to Minnesota and was asked about his muted response to Chris Wallace’s question on denouncing racist groups, plus his instruction that the Proud Boys “stand back and stand by.”
“I can only say they have to stand down and let law enforcement do their work,” Trump said. “I don’t know who the Proud Boys are, but whoever they are, they have to stand down and let law enforcement do their work.”
At this point I like to enter this week-old article into evidence.
Roger Stone, a confidant of President Donald Trump who was convicted by a federal jury of lying, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, recently endorsed a Hawaii candidate for the state House of Representatives.
Nick Ochs is running as a Republican for House District 22, which represents Waikiki, Ala Moana and Kakaako, against Adrian Tam, who unseated incumbent state Rep. Tom Brower in the Democratic primary.
Ochs is the founder of the Proud Boys of Hawaii, a far-right organization he described in a 2018 interview with Hawaii Public Radio as the political counterpunch to the Aloha State’s liberal establishment.
He said the group is a pro-gun, anti-feminist, America-first movement that supports Trump, closed borders and an end to political correctness. Ochs told HPR that while the Proud Boys are not racist they are “anti-racial guilt” and “Western chauvinist.”
Hawaii is not the ideal place to run on “anti-racial guilt” and Western chauvinism, but I’m not concerned with Mr. Ochs prospects for electoral success. The point is that Roger Stone runs with the Proud Boys and this has been no secret. Donald Trump knows exactly who these guys are and he knows their views perfectly align with his.
I know. I know. It’s not a news flash that Trump is lying again, nor that he’s a virulent and toxic racist. But I still have to point these things out from time to time.
It’s very important to keep pointing this out. I hope the major news outlets don’t let him skate with his revisionist response.
The thing with Trump is that he will be back to tweeting his support for them in the next 48 hours.
The Proud Boys understand he meant what he originally said, the revisions are standard crap from him in these situations and not to be believed.
Pure Goebbelsian Big Lie, Orwellian “We have always been at war with Eastasia!”.
The air raid sirens are blaring, but no one’s listening. Or else they are pretending they don’t hear them.
It is happening here, folks. Dem mayors and governors better have some sort of plan to protect voters in heavily Dem precincts. The fact that the nation’s urban police have greater sympathy for the likes of the Proud Boys than the hated citizens of the democracy they are supposed to “protect” is a massive problem.
But someone in Blue (and once-Blue) states better find a way to both deter and quickly deal with rightwing Brownshirt election day violence (including weapons fire) and voter intimidation by white male Trumpites, since the fascist monster is openly calling for it from his “very fine” Deplorables, who have all heard the call to action.
The response to the Trumpolini monster has been far too muted. The nation is hypnotized into disbelief. Precisely the situation that obtained in Weimar Germany, 1933….