‘Stand By’ For What?
At last night’s Presidential Debate in Cleveland, Ohio, President Trump was asked to condemn white supremacists, and said the following:
When asked to speak out against the Proud Boys, Trump made the statement, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by….”
My question for Trump and all those Republicans who claim that the GOP is the Party of Lincoln is this: Stand by for what?
The Proud Boys, who the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as, “Proud Boys and leaders [who] regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists. They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric.”
Additionally, the Proud Boys are a far right group that enjoys inciting violence and fanning the torch flames of hate.
Furthermore, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organization that tracks extremist groups, ”The Proud Boys represent an unconventional strain of American right-wing extremism. … the group can be described as violent, nationalistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and misogynistic….”
When the Proud Boys got their orders from President Trump last night to “stand back and stand by,” their leaders, Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs, and members were thrilled and said, “We’re ready,” and have even begun selling t-shirts.
The Proud Boys are now sharing the group’s logo with the president’s words emblazoned like a slogan. pic.twitter.com/T3tp286YRa
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) September 30, 2020
The silence from the Republican Party on this has been deafening and pathetic. The fact that NO leader in the GOP has spoken out against this means that we no longer can associate Lincoln with the Republican Party
A few GOP senators made brief mention of President Trump’s comments, but none offered a strong rebuke of what he said.
The reason Trump didn’t fully reject and denounce white supremacy groups is because deep down he believes that they are his people and that they will help him get reelected and by their silence the rest of the GOP feels the same way.
African-Americans once viewed the Republican Party as the only vessel to achieve their goals, as Republican Frederick Douglass (an escaped slave who became a leader in the abolitionist movement) said: “The Republican Party is the ship; all else is the sea.”
As a Party, the GOP once helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a band of 27 Republicans joined with 44 Democrats to help pass the Act, which was vehemently opposed by Southern Democrats.
But now, the leader of the GOP, with no push back from the party, has instructed a white supremacists hate group to “stand by.”
Again, I ask: “Stand by” for what?
