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The Proud Boys come into focus after the television debate between Trump and Biden. What kind of group is that?
“Stand back and wait”, so “stop and get ready”: With these words, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, addressed the so-called “Proud Boys”, a far-right organization, during the first television debate against Joe Biden. The most important questions and answers about the group that are on everyone’s lips.
How did the Trump statement come about? Moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump during Tuesday’s television debate whether he would be willing to condemn groups and militias whose views include white supremacy. He explicitly mentioned the Proud Boys. Trump then told the Proud Boys that they should hold back and be ready.
Who are the Proud Boys? The group was founded in response to the #Metoo debate and describes itself as “Western chauvinists.” The American civil rights organization Anti-Defamation League (ADL) classifies the Proud Boys as an unconventional stream in American right-wing extremism. The group could be described as violent, nationalistic and Islamophobic, among other things, according to the ADL. Members are known to use violent tactics. Several members were convicted of violent crimes.
The Proud Boys are a purely male organization, the women organize themselves into Proud Boys’ Girls. In Miami, Florida, many Latinos belong to the Proud Boys, that’s where the current president Enrique Tarrio comes from.
There is a debate in the United States about whether they can be called white supremacists. For example, the black professor Wilfred Reilly believes that this is not the case, as the Washington Times writes.
Proud Boys president Enrique Tarrio (center) at a rally in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 26, 2020.
Keystone
“I don’t know who the Proud Boys are,” Trump said a day after the television debate with challenger Joe Biden. “Whoever they are, they have to hold back and let law enforcement do their job.”
On the White House lawn, a journalist explicitly asked Trump if he was condemning white supremacists. Trump said, “I’ve always condemned all forms …, all forms of something like that.” He did not use the term “white supremacists.”
How do friends at Trump’s party react to his statement? Republican Sen. Tim Scott asked for clarification. “I think he made a mistake,” Scott told reporters in Washington. I should fix it. If you don’t correct it, you probably didn’t make a mistake. “
The leading Republican in the United States Senate, Mitch McConnell, joined Scott. “He (Scott) said it was unacceptable not to judge white supremacists, so I’m doing it as strongly as possible.”
Senator Lindsey Graham, also a Trump ally, said on Twitter that he too believes the president should make it clear that the Proud Boys is a “racist organization contrary to American ideals.”
How do the Proud Boys react to Trump’s statement? According to media reports, the Proud Boys celebrated Trump’s sentence on the courier services as “historic” and as the approval of the president. There has already been an increase in recruits. The organization’s leaders reject the accusations of racism.
