In First Debate President Trump Tells Proud Boys to 'Stand By,' Refuses to Condemn White Supremacists

At the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election, the President of the United States refused to condemn white supremacists and told a far-right paramilitary street gang that openly supports him that they should "stand by." This is not hyperbole. This is not some dramatic interpretation. It is simply what he said. He was asked to condemn white supremacy and he would not. He seemed almost confused at the suggestion. Instead, he directly addressed the Proud Boys, who have violently attacked their political opponents in the street before, and said that they should "stand back and stand by."

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Chris Wallace: "Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down..."

Trump: "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left." pic.twitter.com/4vrPocKzcu — Axios (@axios) September 30, 2020

What on earth would they be standing by for? Could it be for when, as he once again signaled he would do here, he declares the election was rigged? He again refused to say that he would respect the results of a democratic election. Because he won't. He's already said, as he did in 2016, that he will accept the results if he wins. And what happens if he doesn't, and he says it was stolen from him? What will his most extreme supporters, who believe he is all that stands between them and the abyss, do then?

Even if you grant that "stand by" might have been a blurt-of-the-moment thing, why is the president incapable of condemning white supremacy? After the terror in Charlottesville, in which a white supremacist murdered an anti-racist protester with his car, he said that "very fine people" march alongside Ku Klux Klan members and neo-Nazis. Now there are incidents of cars running into protesters all the time. A man who is self-identifying as a part of a "militia" shot two protesters dead in the street in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August. Oh, and the Proud Boys are reportedly already celebrating this line—"Stand Back, Stand By"—as a sort of slogan. Seems like they got the message.

We are living on a knife's edge already, and the president is declaring the election will be rigged—"this is going to be a fraud like you’ve never seen"—and telling his supporters they should go "monitor" polling places on Election Day. He specifically mentioned Philadelphia, a predominantly Democratic city in a key swing state, where he said "bad things happen."

"I am urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully" -- Trump refuses to pledge to not declare victory until the election has been independently certified pic.twitter.com/YD14K8t8nQ — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 30, 2020

None of this is true. There is no evidence "tens of thousands of ballots will be manipulated." He is just making it up. But the consequences will be very real.

Meanwhile, poll watchers are a feature of elections in every state, but you're supposed to formally register for the gig. Also, Republicans have been banned from deploying poll watchers since the 1980s after they entered a consent decree following allegations they'd engaged in voter intimidation in a New Jersey gubernatorial election. Of course, a federal judge threw out that consent decree just in time for this election, and the Republican Party is sinking tens of millions of dollars into the effort. But it's not even clear Trump is referring to this formal program. He may simply aim to foment chaos for people voting in person on Election Day, having already tried to discourage people from voting by mail.

The president has repeatedly refused to condemn white supremacists. That’s it. OLIVIER DOULIERY Getty Images

We seem to have memory-holed it, but a devout fan of the president sent mail bombs to the houses of Democrats and major media figures who were regularly featured on the president's list of enemies. Another man drove hours to an El Paso Walmart and shot the place up, publishing a manifesto that made clear he was targeting Hispanic people he found there, and which often echoed the president's rhetoric on immigration. Another man shot up a Pittsburgh synagogue based on a conspiracy theory related to The Caravan the president obsessed over leading up to the 2018 midterm elections.

The president's performance on the night of Tuesday, September 29, 2020, was of a piece with everything that he has presented to the world in his time in public life. He trafficked in wild conspiracy theories, he attacked his opponent's family, he interrupted constantly to spout nonsense. Joe Biden was meandering at times, and he did not set the world on fire. But he has pledged to accept the results of the goddamned election, and while he isn't as sharp as he once was, he appears to have a basic capacity for human empathy and impulse control. Oh, and he denounces white supremacists. The president will not. He cannot stop himself from welcoming them because they support him. And why do the white supremacists support the president? Why do the Klansmen and the neo-Nazis who showed up in Charlottesville all feel so jazzed about the current occupant of the White House? And if they're so happy, should anyone else be?

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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