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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump said Thursday he condemned all white supremacists, including the “Proud Boys,” an organization identified as a hate group, following comments he made in the first presidential debate earlier in the year. this week and which were considered to embolden the group.
“I condemn all white supremacists, I condemn the Proud Boys,” Trump told Fox News in an interview.
“I don’t know much about the Proud Boys, but I condemn it.”
During his debate with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday, Trump was asked if he was willing to denounce “white supremacists and militia groups” and tell them to stand down amid the violence that has clouded protests against him. racism in some American cities.
Trump asked for a specific name, and Biden mentioned the Proud Boys, an organization that describes itself as a club of “Western chauvinists” but has been categorized as a hate group by the nonprofit Southern Poverty. Law Center.
“Proud guys, stand back and wait,” Trump said.
The comment drew widespread criticism and was viewed by many as a sign of encouragement for the group.
Republican United States Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is black, said Trump misstated and asked him to correct his words.
On Wednesday, Trump told reporters at the White House: “I don’t know who the Proud Boys are,” adding: “They have to stand down. Let the forces of order do their job. “
The president has a long history of making comments that his critics consider racist or supportive of racist groups.
In 2017, he said that “both sides” were to blame for violence between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
He later tried to back up the comments.
Trump called on Biden to condemn Antifa, a largely unstructured far-left movement whose supporters generally aim to confront those they consider authoritarian or racist.
