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US President Donald Trump mentioned a far-right group linked to violence after rejecting to condemn white supremacism. He pointed left-wing groups for creating violence during his first debate appearance with Democratic candidate Joe Biden. The moderator Chris Wallace asked the president whether he is willing to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and they need to stand down. Trump said, “I’m willing to do that, almost everything I see is from the left-wing, not from the right-wing. I want to see peace”. Wallace also pressed President Trump to denounce violent white nationalism. President said, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you what, somebody’s gotta do something about Antifa and the left-wing because this is not a right-wing problem, this is a left-wing problem”.

It is noteworthy that Proud Boys was identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It was established in 2016 by VICE Media co-founder Gavin McInnes. However, the group has claimed it represents an anti-white guilt agenda against political correctness as well as the alt-right label. The founder and members of the group have involved white nationalism and espoused fascist views, including anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric, often turning to violence. The SPLC senior research analyst Cassie Miller said the Proud Boys are among a fascistic, right-wing political bloc galvanized by the President and encouraged by his supporters. She said, “They work symbiotically with right-wing media and a power structure, helmed by Trump that is eager to clamp down on protesters and enact political revenge on progressive constituencies like Portland”.

The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray warned in February that racially motivated violent extremism in the US is as significant a threat as Isis and other foreign terror groups. During the debate, Biden pointed that out to Trump as the candidates moved on. President Trump has repeatedly rejected to condemn the growth of white supremacist violence in the country. He also rejected to condemn former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke in his 2016 campaign. President insisted there were very fine people on both sides of a white supremacist “Unite the Right” protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. After the first debate, vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris interviewed MSNBC. She said, “Dog whistling through a bullhorn is what he’s doing. Donald Trump is not pretending to be anything than what he is”.