Donald Trump’s call to extremist group Proud Boys to ‘stand by’ shows he’s a danger to the free world – Scotsman comment

Donald Trump told the extremist Proud Boys group to 'stand by' after being asked to condemn white supremacists and militia groups (Picture: Andrew Harnik/AP)

When Donald Trump told the Proud Boys to ‘stand by’, it was the latest sign that the US President is not a true Republican and seems to believe he can become America’s first dictator.

The Proud Boys are considered by the FBI to be “an extremist group with ties to white nationalism” and it is blindingly obvious why.

In 2016, founder Gavin McInnes, who also co-founded Vice Media, told his enemies: “We will kill you. That’s the Proud Boys in a nutshell. We will kill you.” While the group does have members from different ethnic backgrounds and denies being racist, the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors extremist groups, says it “can be described as violent, nationalistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and misogynistic”. To become a member, people are required to state publicly: “I am a proud Western chauvinist, I refuse to apologise for creating the modern world.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center dismisses what it calls “disavowals of bigotry” by the Proud Boys, saying these are “belied by their actions: rank-and-file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists. They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Proud Boys have appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings like the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville”.

This is the group told by US President Donald Trump to “stand by” during the first presidential election debate with Joe Biden. The host, Chris Wallace, had asked Trump “to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence”. “Sure, I’m willing to,” he initially responded, but then said: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by, but I tell you what... somebody’s got to do something about antifa [anti-fascist groups] and the left because this is not a right-wing problem.”

Social media accounts linked to the Proud Boys were ecstatic. Professor Megan Squire, who tracks online extremism, told NBC News: “To say Proud Boys are energised by this is an understatement... Their fantasy is to fight antifa in his defence, and he apparently just asked them to do just that.”

Donald Trump is a racist, a sexist and a serial liar who, with comments suggesting he will refuse to accept the election result and seek to serve more than two terms as President, seems to believe he can subvert democracy and become his country’s first dictator.

This man is not a Republican, he is a threat to freedom in America and the rest of the democratic world.

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