Trump calls into Fox News, says he condemns the KKK, Proud Boys, and 'all white supremacists'

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

published 2 October 2020

Two days after a presidential debate in which President Trump refused to condemn white supremacists, he called into Fox News host Sean Hannity's show to denounce the Ku Klux Klan and the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group.

"I have to say, I've said it many times, and let me be clear again, I condemn the KKK," Trump claimed Thursday night. "I condemn all white supremacists. I condemn the Proud Boys. I don't know much about the Proud Boys, almost nothing, but I condemn that." He then said Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden "should condemn antifa," calling the anti-fascism movement "a really bad group of people."

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Both Wallace and Biden said "white supremacists" and "Proud Boys," and Trump responded: "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left, because this is not a right-wing problem, this is a left-wing problem." The Proud Boys quickly celebrated the shout out, but the next day, Trump told reporters he actually had had no clue who the Proud Boys are and they need to let law enforcement do their job. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.