On Tuesday, the first presidential debate took place and it was indeed something to see. With both candidates taking jabs at one another, it was quite interesting to say the least. With topics covering the pandemic, supreme court and race relations just to name a few, white supremacy was also discussed. While asking about right-wing extremist violence in Charlottesville, Va., and Portland, Ore., Donnie diverted the question and ultimately refused to denounce white supremacy.
Chis Wallace, the moderator asked Trump, “Are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and groups to say they need to stand down and not add to the violence and number of the cities as we saw in Kenosha and as we’ve seen in Portland?”
Trump replied, “Sure. I’m willing to do that.” He also added,“Almost everything I see is from the left wing. Not from the right wing.”
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When Trump was pressed about the situation, Trump asked, “What do you want to call them?”
“White supremacists,” the moderator replied.
“Proud Boys (defined as a hate group)— stand back and stand by,” he said. “But I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what. Somebody has to do something about antifa and the left. This is not a right-wing problem. This is left wing.”
During the exchange, he shifted blamed to the “left-wing,” even though Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said days later that “when white supremacists act as terrorists, more people per incident are killed,” according to The New York Times.
Later that night, Donald Trump Jr was asked about his father’s comments. “He said to stand down. I don’t know if that was a misspeak. But he was talking about having them stand down. He’s more than happy to condemn that.”
After stating that “Joe Biden continues to talk about the Charlottesville hoax,” Donald Trump Jr. stated he was “proud” of his father’s performance.
The vice-presidential debate will take place on October 7th.
