Members of the far-right Proud Boys militia were proud to hear instructions from the President of the United States. During his debate against Joe Biden on Tuesday, September 29, Donald Trump was invited by moderator Chris Wallace to solemnly repudiate far-right violence. “Are you ready tonight to condemn the white supremacists and the militias and say they must fall in line and not add to the violence?” “, invited the reporter.
“I am fully prepared”, Mr Trump replied, adding that the violence emanated mostly from the far left, “And not from the right wing”. The host insisted, the president made a show of complying and, since Joe Biden had mentioned the Proud Boys, it was to them that he addressed: “Proud Boys, step back and be ready”, he said. “But someone has to do something about these antifas and the left. It’s not a right wing problem. It’s the left. ” The far-left movement, known as the antifa, has been made responsible for a number of urban violence, especially in Portland (Oregon) on the sidelines of the anti-racist demonstrations of Black Lives Matter.
The presidential debate was not yet over as the members of the group celebrated, on social networks, this legitimation described as“Historical”. Hours later Mr. Trump’s expression – “Stand back and stand by” – was added to the “Boys” logo. “What the president said is that we could afford” the antifas, commented on Twitter Joe Biggs, one of the figures of the group, declaring himself ” delighted “ to continue the confrontation. “Sir, he added emphatically. We are ready ! “
“Caravans for Trump”
The Proud Boys, a small group that does not accept women, founded in 2016 by the co-founder of Vice Media Gavin McInnes, at the same time as the appearance of the identity, nationalist and Islamophobic movement of the alt-right, for “Alternative right”, are considered a “hate group” (“Hate group”) by the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center), which is authoritative in the analysis of extremists. Until Mr. Trump’s victory, they were confined to an Internet presence. This year, they campaign loudly for the Republican’s re-election. During the summer, they organized “caravans for Trump”, 4 × 4 processions they like to bring, armed with assault rifles or paintballs, to the heart of progressive cities.
This is not the first time that the president has shown leniency for the far right. After the clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 at a protest attended by the same Proud Boys, he fired white supremacists and anti-racist protesters back to back, believing that there were “Good people on both sides”. As American society increasingly accepts the idea of structural racism, Tuesday’s debate showed that Donald Trump had not changed.
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