President Trump at the first 2020 presidential debate blew "the biggest layup" in debate history, according to Fox News' Brian Kilmeade.
The Fox & Friends host on Wednesday morning slammed Trump for not explicitly condemning white supremacists during Tuesday's presidential debate. When asked to do so by moderator Chris Wallace, Trump told the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, to "stand back and stand by."
"Donald Trump blew the biggest layup in the history of debates by not condemning white supremacists," Kilmeade said. "I don't know if he didn't hear it, but he's got to clarify that right away. That's like, 'Are you against evil?'"
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Kilmeade added that he's "not sure" why Trump didn't "knock it out of the park" on that answer. Fox News' Steve Doocy previously suggested on the show the debate had no clear winner, as "we didn't see" either candidate land "a knockout punch," while Kilmeade concluded that "we were the big losers last night, meaning the American people."
Donald Trump Jr. suggested in an interview after the debate that the president may have misspoken when he told the Proud Boys to "stand by," telling CBS, "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."
Among those who previously called out Trump for failing to condemn white supremacists at the debate was former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who told CNN this was a major "gaffe" on Trump's part and a "huge mistake." Brendan Morrow
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