US Presidential Debate 2020: Trump refuses to denounce white supremacists

During the first presidential debate on September 29, US President Donald Trump refused to condemn white supremacists and instead told the hate group ‘proud boys’ to ‘stand back and stand by’. When debate moderator Chris Wallace asked the Republican leader if he was willing to denounce ‘white supremacists and militia groups’ that have been active at rallies against police violence, Trump initially tried to deflect the question by blaming the ‘left-wing’ for violence and added that he was ‘willing to do anything’. 

When pressed by both Wallace and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Trump replied saying, “I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace”. Wallace and Biden then added, “Do it, say it”. The Republican leader then said, "What do you want to call them? Give me a name,” promoting Biden to mention the ‘Proud Boys’, which is an organisation that describes itself as a club of ‘Western chauvinists’ but has been categorised as a hate group by the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Centre. 

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“Proud Boys? Stand back, and stand by. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left,” Trump said.

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‘Fine people on both side’ 

Antifa, which stands for anti-fascist, is, on the other hand, a largely unstructured, far-left movement whose followers aim to confront those they view as authoritarian or racist. Following the debate, Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, said on MSNBC said, “What we saw was a dog whistle through a bull horn”. 

Trump’s recent comments marked another example in which the President refused to condemn white supremacists. Back in 2017 during a white supremacists rally in Charlottesville, the Republican leader had also claimed that the group were ‘very fine people on both side’. The US President has sought to distance himself from that comment, however, he has been repeatedly accused of downplaying the threat of white supremacists, even though his own administration has warned of the danger. 

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