'Stand Back And Stand By': Matt Gaetz Parrots Trump's Call To Violent Extremists At His Trial [View all]
Source: Huff Post
May 16, 2024, 01:41 PM EDT | Updated 44 minutes ago
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Thursday ominously invoked Donald Trump’s call to far-right violent extremists while joining the former president at his criminal trial in New York. “Standing back and standing by, Mr. President,” Gaetz wrote on social media, along with a photo of himself positioned behind Trump at his trial.
The phrase is a reference to Trump infamously refusing to condemn heavily armed white supremacists, namely the neo-fascist Proud Boys, during a September 2020 presidential debate. The Proud Boys had been tied to violence that summer in cities including Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Portland, Oregon.
“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” was all Trump finally said in the debate, before trying to blame others for violence. "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,” he said.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) called out Gaetz for his Thursday message. “‘Standing back and standing by’ You know exactly what you are doing ― blowing the Proud Boys dog whistle,” Crow wrote on social media. “Trying to be subtle in your call for violence; well we won’t let you. This is unacceptable.”
Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-gaetz-stand-back-stand-by-proud-boys_n_66462d52e4b0dd63cd2ba653
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