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One of the biggest talking points to emerge after the first presidential debate between U.S. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden in September 2020 was the claim that Trump had refused to condemn white supremacists when invited to do so. On CNN, political commentator Van Jones emphatically made the argument that Trump had refused to condemn white supremacy, stating: Similarly, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wrote on Twitter that Trump had refused to condemn white supremacism, and Biden himself wrote on Twitter that the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night. This is a complicated claim to disentangle and largely revolves around the sense of the word refuse. During the Sept. 29 debate, Fox News moderator Chris Wallace and Biden repeatedly urged, asked, and invited Trump to condemn white supremacist and right-wing militia groups. Remarkably, Trump did not do that. When an adult person is repeatedly asked to do something, and clearly hears and understands the requests, but doesn't do it, a reasonable argument can be made that that person has refused to do what they were asked to do. On the other hand, Trump did not verbally articulate an unwillingness to condemn white supremacists, which is often an important component of refusing to do something, as opposed to simply not doing it. For example, he did not say No or I won't do that. On the contrary, at least not in a clear manner. As a result of these mutually contradictory elements of Trump's remarks during that moment in the debate, we are issuing a rating of Mixture. The discussion in question came around 65 minutes into the Sept. 29 debate at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. In order to provide as much relevant context as possible, the following is a transcript of the exchange, which can be watched below: When asked to condemn white supremacists and right-wing militia groups, Trump verbally articulated a willingness to do so (Sure, I'm willing to do that), but also prevaricated, delayed, and bristled at the request, for example asking Who do you want me to condemn? when the terms of the request had already been made clear, and saying Give me a name, go ahead. He also swiftly shifted focus from white supremacists (the subject of the moderator's question to him) to a condemnation of the left wing. While it can be argued that Trump did not unequivocally refuse to condemn white supremacists, he undoubtedly demonstrated a reluctance to do so, one that will be very worrying to many voters. When Trump ultimately got around to issuing his version of the condemnation requested by Wallace and Biden, it was shrouded in ambiguity (Proud Boys? Stand back and stand by) and followed by another rapid shift in focus to antifa and the Left. Whatever Trump did say, he did not condemn white supremacists. The Proud Boys are a right-wing organization whose members have at various times articulated anti-Semitic, racist, white supremacist, homophobic, misogynistic, and Islamophobic views, as well as at times associating with more extremist right-wing figures and groups. The Anti-Defamation League describes the group as follows: Trump's Stand back could appropriately be interpreted as an instruction to temporarily desist from activities, while stand by suggests an instruction to get prepared to take action. That's how at least some prominent Proud Boys received and interpreted the latter instruction. As The New York Times' Mike Baker documented, several Proud Boys expressed delight at Trump's remarks on the social networking site Parler, with one writing President Trump told the Proud Boys to stand by because someone needs to deal with Antifa...Well Sir! We're ready! Another wrote, Standing by, Sir. Snopes asked the White House and Trump campaign what the president meant by stand back and stand by and whether he actually meant to say stand down, a phrase suggested to Trump by Wallace earlier in the exchange. We did not receive a response from either. On Sept. 30, the day after the debate, Trump told reporters that he didn't know who the Proud Boys were, but whoever they are, they have to stand down, let law enforcement do their work. Asked whether he denounced white supremacists, Trump said, without specificity, I've always denounced any form, any form, any form of any of that. Trump hasn't always condemned white supremacists — for example, he did not do so just hours earlier, despite being repeatedly asked to, in front of an international television audience — but he has spoken of them in condemnatory terms in the past. In August 2017, Trump was widely criticized for saying there were very fine people on both sides of clashes between neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and pro-Confederate monument demonstrators, and anti-racist counter-protesters (including some antifa activists) in Charlottesville, Virginia. Those clashes came to a head when James Alex Fields, an Ohio man with ties to the American far right, murdered anti-racism activist Heather Heyer by striking her with the car he was driving. During an Aug. 14, 2017, briefing, Trump said: During an Aug. 15, 2017, press conference, Trump said his earlier reference to very fine people pertained to demonstrators who are in favor of preserving Confederate monuments rather than removing them, and he added: I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally. In August 2019, Trump condemned racism, bigotry, and white supremacy after a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in which the suspect allegedly targeted those he perceived to be immigrants and had allegedly posted a far-right, anti-Hispanic and white supremacist manifesto. Speaking from the White House, Trump said: The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online consumed by racist hate. In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart, and devours the soul. We have asked the FBI to identify all further resources they need to investigate and disrupt hate crimes and domestic terrorism — whatever they need. Two weeks after the first presidential debate in 2020, Trump again condemned white supremacists. During an Oct. 15 town hall event in Miami, Florida, NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie confronted the president with his remarks at the debate. Trump again bristled at the question, but said Are you listening? I denounce white supremacy. What's your next question?
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