White House says there's no need to clarify Trump's response to white supremacists debate question

White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah.

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter)

last updated 22 October 2020

President Trump's team doesn't think he did anything wrong at Tuesday's night's debate, especially when it came to denouncing white supremacists.

Trump's refusal to denounce far-right extremists led even Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade to declare the president blew "the biggest layup in the history of debates" and ask Trump to "clear it up." But when Fox News tried to do just that with White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah on Wednesday morning, Farah said "I don't think that there's anything to clarify. He told them to stand back."

Trump campaign press secretary Hogan Gidley also didn't think there was anything wrong with Trump telling the far-right Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by." "He wants them to get out of the way," Gidley said.

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But Proud Boy members didn't take it that way. As NBC News reports, the group's chat rooms and social media accounts lit up with praise for Trump after his refusal to denounce them, and some even turned Trump's words into a meme and rallying cry, calling Trump the "general of the Proud Boys."

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.