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| Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden held the first of three scheduled debates. |
I'm scared. After last night's so-called debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, I'm very worried.
The moment where I gasped was when moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump to denounce white supremacists. Trump tried to talk around the question but Wallace persisted and Biden even egged him on.
Instead of condemning white supremacists, Trump said, "Proud Boys: Stay back and stand by."
I interpreted that to mean, "Be ready to act in case I need you."
The whoop and hollar you hear are the Proud Boys celebrating that Trump recognized them on national television.
The Proud Boys is a white supremacist organization that is so far right that Twitter and Facebook banned them from their social media apps.
Nevertheless, using other social media, Proud Boys have been able to increase its membership during the Trump era. They are excited that membership will increase with Trump's mention.
The Proud Boys describe themselves as “a pro-Western fraternal organization for men,” according to the New York Times.
The Anti-Defamation League was more blunt, saying the organization is considered a violent, nationalistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and misogynistic hate group,
A member of an affiliate organization, the Kenosha Guard, shot and killed two anti-racist demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin last month. After the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back during an arrest, a teenage member of the Kenosha Guard killed two anti-racist demonstrators. A week later, there was a fatal shooting of a member of Patriot Prayer, a far-right group based in the Portland, Oregon area that has clashed with protesters in the past.
"Stand by," means to be prepared to act and critics say the term implies that at some point, violence may be needed to quell matters such as a disputed election.
Testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, FBI director Christopher Wray also said most of the racially motivated cases in the U.S. deal are instigated by white supremacists.
"Within the domestic terrorism bucket, the category as a whole, racially motivated violent extremism is, I think, the biggest bucket within that larger group. And within the racially motivated violent extremist bucket, people subscribing to some kind of white supremacist-type ideology is certainly the biggest chunk of that," he said.
"Of the domestic terrorism threats, we last year elevated racially motivated extremism to be a national threat priority commensurate with homegrown violent extremists," Wray added.
A member of an affiliate organization, the Kenosha Guard, shot and killed two anti-racist demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin last month. After the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back during an arrest, a teenage member of the Kenosha Guard killed two anti-racist demonstrators. A week later, there was a fatal shooting of a member of Patriot Prayer, a far-right group based in the Portland, Oregon area that has clashed with protesters in the past.
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| The Proud Boy's new logo. |
Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs wrote on social media that Trump’s remarks gave them permission to “fuck” up the group’s foes.
"President Trump told the proud boys to stand by because someone needs to deal with ANTIFA... well sir! we're ready!!" Biggs wrote on the social media app Telegram.
Within hours of the debate, the Proud Boys incorporated the phrase into their logo.
Testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, FBI director Christopher Wray also said most of the racially motivated cases in the U.S. deal are instigated by white supremacists.
"Within the domestic terrorism bucket, the category as a whole, racially motivated violent extremism is, I think, the biggest bucket within that larger group. And within the racially motivated violent extremist bucket, people subscribing to some kind of white supremacist-type ideology is certainly the biggest chunk of that," he said.
"Of the domestic terrorism threats, we last year elevated racially motivated extremism to be a national threat priority commensurate with homegrown violent extremists," Wray added.
The train-wreck of a debate hosted by conservative network Fox was an embarrassment with Trump ignoring the rules agreed to by the candidates' campaign staffs. Moderator Wallace couldn't control Trump, who often spoke over Biden during the former Vice President's attempted to answer Wallace's question. The first ten minutes of the debate was unintelligible because both candidates and Wallace spoke over each other.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this article is news laced with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.
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