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By DPA 
14h ago
By Cristina Maza, Shabtai Gold and Eliyahu Kamisher
Washington – US President Donald Trump denounced white supremacy and far-right extremist group Proud Boys on Thursday night after failing to do so during the presidential debate.
“I condemn the Proud Boys,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News, adding that he also condemns white supremacy.
“If I say it a hundred times it will not be enough, because it is fake news,” he added.
During Tuesday’s presidential debate, Trump refused to explicitly condemn white supremacist groups when asked to do so by the moderator of the debate, opting instead to tell the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, that ” stay out of it. “
The statement was widely interpreted as a sign of the president’s support, with critics arguing that it was a dog whistle for racist violence.
Earlier in the White House on Thursday, he insisted that President Donald Trump denounced the far-right Proud Boys in this week’s presidential debate, saying his comment that members of the group should “back off and stay out of it” had been misunderstood.
During a press conference, however, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president had been trying to tell members of the Proud Boys to “stand down,” adding that he had explicitly condemned supremacy. white as a result of the debate.
“The president in particular was literally asked yesterday ‘white supremacy, do you denounce them?’ To which he responded, ‘I’ve always denounced any form of that,’ “McEnany said, citing Trump.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden accused Trump Wednesday of failing to condemn white supremacists.
“There is no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused last night to repudiate white supremacists on the stage of the debate,” Biden said in a tweet.
Trump supporters, however, argue that Trump had been trying to discourage the Proud Boys with his comments.
The campaign of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, strongly opposes any modification of the rules of the debates, after a first chaotic event saw a series of proposals to modify the format.
“There should be no change in what has been agreed and established,” Jason Miller, one of the campaign’s top advisers, said in a press call Thursday.
The Republican candidate’s campaign criticized the Presidential Debate Commission, the group that organizes the events, claiming that its members have a history of anti-Trump statements.
Bill Stepien, the campaign manager, noted that Trump’s team and advisers to Democratic candidate Joe Biden have negotiated the terms of the three debates in advance, as has been tradition, insisting that those terms remain in place.
“Why would I allow the Debate Committee to change the rules for the second and third debates when I won easily last time?” Trump said in a tweet.
Trump’s team said Biden’s campaign requests that the moderator be able to cut off the candidates’ microphones.
The second debate format is a town hall style, which means that voters in the crowd can ask the questions. The first debate was moderated by journalist Chris Wallace.
Wallace told Fox News that the town hall’s format could limit the chaos, as the candidates will face real people.
The first debate was a forceful event of crossed conversations, insults and a refusal, mainly by Trump, to respect the time limits.
The day after the debate, the commission said it is “carefully considering the changes it will adopt” before the Miami city hall, adding that it seeks to add more “structure.”
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