NEW ORLEANS — President Donald Trump was given the chance denounce white supremacists and far-right militias at Tuesday night’s debate.
Instead, he deflected.
During the debate, the president also declined to tell the Proud Boys, an organization identified by the Southern Poverty Law Clinic as a hate group, to stand down.
“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by, but 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, this is a left-wing problem,” Trump said.
After the debate, images identifying with the Proud Boys, started including the phrase President Trump used… "stand back" and "stand by".
Aaron Ahlquist from the Anti-Defamation league said the president’s refusal to give a full-throated condemnation of the group is equal to an endorsement of their ideology and methods of intimidation.
“If you have emboldened hate, who are willing to stand to arms or stand to defend what they perceive as their champion in the Oval Office, that could very easily spread to violence,” Ahlquist said.
President Trump urged his supporters at the debate to “go into the polls and watch very carefully,” further escalating fears about voter intimidation.
“It gave them a signal to go out and try to disrupt the electoral process, but we won’t allow that in Louisiana,” Orleans Clerk of Court Arthur Morrell said.
Morrell is the top election official in New Orleans.
He points out, each candidate can have one poll watcher per voting place.
But they must be approved by election officials 48 hours before an election.
Morrell said he doesn’t anticipate trouble but is stepping up security just in case.
“We’re going to ask the sheriff for additional deputy sheriff’s to be stationed strategically in the city in case we need assistance,” Morrell said.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, is the only black Republican in the Senate.
He told reporters Trump "should correct" his remarks when he refused to condemn white supremacist groups.
“I think he misspoke,” Scott said. “I think he should correct it. If he doesn’t correct it, I guess he didn’t misspeak.”
Senator Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, told the New York Times that “he should unequivocally condemn white supremacy.”
Wednesday afternoon the president did tell reporters he doesn’t know who the Proud Boys are but said that they should “stand down and let law enforcement do their work.”
As for Democrat Joe Biden’s message to far-right extremist groups "cease and desist.”
The Commission on Presidential Debates said it will change the debate format after President Trump’s frequent interruptions at Tuesday night’s event.