Asked to denounce violent right-wing extremist groups including the Proud Boys during Tuesday’s raucous presidential debate, President Trump only told them to “stand back and stand by.”
The gang-like extremist group was founded by VICE Magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes in the lead-up to the Trump 2016 presidential victory. In a number of radio broadcasts, McInnes has advocated for Trump supporters to commit acts of violence against rivals and said members of the Proud Boys would do so.
“We will kill you, that’s the Proud Boys in a nutshell. We will kill you. We look nice. We seem soft. We have ‘boys’ in our name, but like Bill the Butcher and the Bowery Boys, we will assassinate you,” McInnes said in one of his radio appearances.
Famously, the Proud Boys sparked a street brawl with leftists on the streets of midtown Manhattan after McInnes spoke at the Metropolitan Republican Club in 2018.
Members of the Denver chapter of the group have also marched alongside extremist and neo-Nazi groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“Trump basically said to go f–k them up! this makes me so happy,” one of the members wrote in a chat on the app Telegram, according to screenshots posted online.
“Standing by, sir,” another added.
The group’s Seattle chapter quickly adopted the president’s comment as part of their motto, according to one screenshot, which shows an image of the words “Stand Back” and “Stand By” surrounding the gang’s crest.
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