Social media and the left have grasped onto President Trump’s remarks about the Proud Boys, but White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the president on Thursday, stating that his record is “unmistakable.”
McEnany said that media is refusing to cover Trump’s condemnation of white supremacy groups. She said, “The president has denounced white supremacy, the KKK, hate groups of all forms, he signed a resolution—just last week, he expressed his desire to see the KKK prosecuted as domestic terrorists.”
The day after the debate, Trump clarified his response to reporters, insisting that he didn’t know who the Proud Boys were. Trump said, “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. I can only say they have to stand down and let law enforcement do their work.”
During the debate, President Trump and Joe Biden had a spar over the name for the white supremacy group he was supposed to condemn. While Wallace asked the question, Biden inserted that the group was called “Proud Boys.” Trump then said, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what, I'll tell you what, somebody has got to do something about Antifa and the left. Because this is not a right-wing problem. This is a left-wing problem.”
Biden then interjected that Antifa was “an idea, not an organization.”
Trump then responded, “When a bat hits you over the head that's not an idea. Antifa is bad.”
McEnany also said that Trump clearly did denounce him. She said, “The president did denounce them. Stand back, he said, and he said stand down specifically—a synonym with stand back.”
She continued, “He didn’t know what the Proud Boys were.”
“The president, specifically, verbatim was asked white supremacy —do you denounce them— He said I have always denounced any form of that.”
McEnany then pointed out that the media has not chosen to attack Biden for his comment about Antifa, calling them an idea instead of a terrorist group. She said, “Ideas do not burn down buildings, ideas do not kill innocent Americans.”
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