Trump claims in debate ‘Portland Sheriff’ gave him endorsement; Reese quickly responds: I ‘will never support him’

President Donald Trump during Tuesday night’s debate said he secured the endorsement of the “Portland sheriff” -- presumably a reference to Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese.

Reese shortly after tweeted that was false.

“In tonight’s presidential debate the President said the ‘Portland Sheriff’ supports him," Reese said on Twitter. "As the Multnomah County Sheriff I have never supported Donald Trump and will never support him.”

Trump also said if local and state leaders cooperated as he wants, he could end protests in Portland in 30 minutes.

Moderator Chris Wallace asked Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate for president, if he had reached out to try to stop the violence in Portland.

“Have you ever called the Democratic mayor of Portland or the Democratic governor of Oregon and said, hey, you gotta stop this, bring in the National Guard, do whatever it takes, to stop the days and months of violence in Portland?” Wallace asked.

“I don’t hold public office now,” Biden responded. "I am a former vice president. I’ve made it clear, I’ve made it clear in my public statements, that violence should be prosecuted.

Wallace continued: “But you’ve never called for the leaders in Portland and in Oregon to bring in the National Guard and knock off 100 days of riots?”

“They can in fact take care of it if he’d just stay out of the way,” Biden responded, referring to Trump, who scoffed at the assertion.

Trump said he sent in U.S. Marshals to “get the killer of the young man in the middle of the street," an apparent reference to the killing of 39-year-old Aaron “Jay” Danielson. "They shot him, and for three days Portland wouldn’t do anything.

“I had to send in the U.S. Marshals, and they took care of business," Trump said.

Biden responded that Trump "keeps trying to rile everything up. He doesn’t want to calm things down.

“Instead of going in and talking to people and saying, ‘Let’s get everybody together, figure out how to deal with this,’ What’s he do?” Biden said. “He just pours gasoline on the fire, constantly, every single, solitary time.”

Another issue familiar to Portlanders -- the far-right group the Proud Boys -- was addressed during the debate when Wallace asked Trump to condemn white supremacy. Trump deflected the question, but when Wallace pressed, Trump asked for a name of a group. Biden offered the Proud Boys, a group that has openly advocated for violence and is a designated hate group.

“Proud Boys — stand back, stand by. But I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem,” Trump said. “This is a left-wing problem.”

Proud Boys' internet chats shortly after erupted with excitement, apparently seeing Trump’s statements as encouragement. The group quickly had memes on social media that included “Stand Back, Stand By" with the group’s logo.