America’s violent far-right was last night seeing a spike in “new recruits” after Donald Trump shamefully told them to “stand by” ahead of the US election.
The President made the comment as the race for the White House descended into a disgrace as the first presidential debate before the November 3 ballot turned into an all-out verbal brawl.
As controversy yesterday raged over who won the televised head-to-head between Republican Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, it was clear the American people were the real losers.
In a 90-minute debate that sent shockwaves around the States, the rest of the world watched on as America, the leader of the free world, became a global embarrassment.
The most jarring moment came when Trump was asked to denounce white supremacists for inciting violence at anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country.
“Sure, I’m willing to (tell them to stand down), but I would say almost everything I see is from the left-wing, not from the right-wing. I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace,” Trump said.
“Say it. Do it. Say it,” Biden responded, encouraging the President to condemn White supremacists.
“Who would you like me to condemn?” Trump asked moderator Chris Wallace.
Biden could be heard twice saying, “Proud Boys.”
Trump continued: “Proud Boys - stand back and stand by.”
He then added the violence seen in several US was because of the left singling out the anti-fascist group, Antifa.
“But I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what. Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem,” he said.
Who are the Proud Boys?
Within minutes, members of the Proud Boys - founded by Brit Gavin McInnes - embraced his comments posting calling his words “historic.”
On the right-wing social media site Parler, the group’s leader Joe Biggs said he took Trump to be issuing a rallying cry.
“Proud Boys shout out at Presidential debate,” he wrote before adding,
“President Trump told the Proud Boys to stand by because someone needs to deal with Antifa. Well, sir. We’re ready.”
One member Enrique Tarrio responded: “Standing by Sir,” before Biggs told the group “Trump basically said to go f*** up. This makes me so happy.”
In one Proud Boys channel on private messaging app Telegram, members said the President’s comment was an implicit endorsement of their violent tactics.
In another message, a member said the group was already seeing a spike in “new recruits.”
Their celebrations were noted by Biden who today tweeted: “There’s no other way to put it - the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage.
The former Vice President’s running mate Kamala Harris said: “The President of the United States, in the year of our lord 2020, refuses to condemn White supremacists.
“People talk about is he dog-whistling - dog-whistling through a bull horn is what he’s doing.”
Rashad Robinson, President of civil rights group Color of Change, added: “At this point, no one should be surprised that Trump is at minimum sympathetic to the Proud Boys and other White supremacists.
“It’s not just his words but his actions, through policy and practice, which have been enabled by so many that will pretend to be outraged or surprised.”
As the controversy grew, Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the President’s campaign said of Trump’s “stand by” comment it was “very clear he wants them to knock it off.”
Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacists follows months of protest and civil unrest in response to police brutality and systemic racism.
Millions of Americans have taken to the streets in the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery - all African-Americans.
Police and white civilian vigilantes killed them.
Trump has denounced these demonstrations while referring to organisations like Black Lives Matter as “a symbol of hate.”
The Proud Boys, founded by Hertfordshire-born McInnes, has been deemed a hate group by civil rights campaigner, the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC).
This week British clothing company Fred Perry was forced to pull its iconic black and yellow polo shirt from the US market after it became associated with the far-right mob.
Founded by the Brit in 2016, the all-male group is known for its anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric while describing members as “Western chauvinists who refuse to apologise for creating the modern world.”
The Proud Boys' site argues its appeal arises from the fact young Americans are “finished” with “apology culture” but denies links to the alt-right or white supremacists.
Last year McInnes, 50, sued the SPLC for designating the organisation a hate group.
Facebook and Instagram have banned the Proud Boys, citing their policies against hate groups.
Twitter shut down accounts associated to the group last year, making membership totals hard to estimate although a survey in 2017 placed membership at 6,000 before the social media ban.
McInnes, born to Scottish parents and who moved from Hitchin to Canada as a young boy before settling in New York, left the group in November 2018, according to his lawsuit filed in Alabama.
Despite McInnes saying he left the Proud Boys, while watching the debate he said he "controlled them".
While wearing a Trump t-shirt, he was visibly delighted at the President's mention of the group's name.
"Did he just say, Proud Boys?" McInnes said during his live-streamed 'Get Off My Lawn' podcast.
"I control the Proud Boys, Donald. Do not stand down. Do not stand back."
Meanwhile, Biggs took the opportunity to launch a recruitment drive for their movement.
"If you're a real man and want to make a change in America or in your country, join the proud boys," he said.
He later took a swipe at the former Vice President.
"I served numerous overseas in combat and Joe Biden, the dog-faced lying pony soldier he is wants to come at me," he said.
"I did more in my few years in the army than you ever did you old lying f***. Kiss my a** you paedophile."
Tuesday night’s presidential debate has been labelled the worst in US history with one US pundit calling it “a hot mess inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck.”
Put more bluntly by another, it was a “s*** show”.
Rather than focus on policies, the President chose to personally attack Biden and his family, even mentioning the former Vice President’s son’s historic use of drugs.
It descended into a demeaning performance that robbed America of what should have been the laying out of a blueprint for the next four years.
Before it began, it was hoped both candidates would look to provide hope to Americans after a pandemic that has led to challenges not seen since the Great Depression and World War II.
But the night turned into chaos with Trump launching an unrelenting volley of personal attacks, as he derailed the night by repeatedly talking over Biden.
At one point, the exasperated former Vice President called his rival a “clown” and “the worst president that America has ever had.”
Trump constant interruptions often led the Democrat to lose his train of thought on critical points, though he grew used to Trump’s attacks as the night went on.
During a discussion about the explosive new reports from The New York Times Trump paid little or no federal income taxes during much of the past two decades, Biden turned the topic into one of fairness.
He stated the average schoolteacher paid more in taxes than Trump. Again, the President, who fact checkers said yesterday used an “avalanche of lies throughout the night, drowned him out with interjections.
The dynamic emerged almost immediately during the first exchange over health care and continued throughout the night.
Frustrated by the inability to carry a coherent thought, Biden broke into Trump’s retorts at one point, saying, “Will you shut up, man?”
When Biden was asked why voters should elect him over the President, the former vice president to Barack Obama said Trump had made the country “sicker, poorer, more divided and more violent.”
“When I was vice president, we inherited a recession. I was asked to fix it. I did. We left him a booming economy, and he caused the recession,” Biden said.
“With regard to being weaker, the fact is that I have gone head to head with (Russian President Vladimir Putin) and made it clear to him we’re not going to take any of his stuff.”
“He’s Putin’s puppy,” Biden said of his rival.
“He refuses to say anything to Putin about the bounty on the heads of American soldiers” as Trump began to interrupt him with an attack on his son, Hunter.
Wallace interjected saying, “Mr President, your campaign agreed that both sides would get two-minute answers. Uninterrupted. Well, your side agreed to it. Why don’t you observe what your campaign agreed to as a ground rule.”
“He never keeps his word,” Biden snapped back.
