Proud Boys chairman tells Infowars that Trump’s shoutout sent recruiting “through the roof”

During the first presidential debate on September 29, President Donald Trump was asked to condemn white supremacy and the violent neofasict group Proud Boys. In response, Trump told the Proud Boys to “stand down and stand by.” Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacy and his appeal to the Proud Boys, which has connections to other hate groups, caused widespread condemnation. Immediately after Trump’s comments, the Proud Boys cheered his statement. The next day, Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio appeared on Infowars to respond to the president’s appeal to the Proud Boys.

Infowars host Owen Shroyer, who has suggested George Floyd’s death was staged and recently said former President Barack Obama “basically has a rope destined for his neck,” told Tarrio that he thinks Trump is aware of the Proud Boys’ activity.

From the September 30, 2020, edition of Infowars' War Room

OWEN SHROYER (HOST): That's really why they hate you guys because you literally stopped the Democrat riots. And I think Trump may not be being fully honest. I think he does know who you guys are because he said let law enforcement do their job. So at least he's aware of what is going on, that you guys are stopping antifa, more than the police are in Portland.

Tarrio said that the most important thing that Trump said was “stand by,” and by saying that, Trump was telling the group to “stand by me.”

From the September 30, 2020, edition of Infowars' War Room

ENRIQUE TARRIO (CHAIRMAN, PROUD BOYS): Yeah, he didn't denounce us but he didn't promote us. It wasn't like this moment, this gotcha moment, in the debate. He just simply answered to the best of his ability. And then another thing that we're getting a lot of crap for is his message to us that says “stand back, stand by." Right? And this is what I take from it. So the original question was Chris Wallace asking him to tell these groups to stand down. So the “stand back" kind of goes in that direction, right? He's kind of answering the question for him, he's telling this group that Joe Biden just said -- he's telling them to stand back. But the thing that I got most was from the “stand by." They think that we're like this roaming militia that's waiting for orders from the president.

Actually, one of the questions that a reporter asked me today was do I have President Trump's phone number. And unfortunately I don't. I wish I did because I would probably call him all day and bother him. But what I took from the “stand by" thing is, like, “stand by me." You know? And although we're not a political organization, you're one hundred percent right about that, most of our guys just want to get out of the house and drink a beer - but the “stand by" part, to me, is “stand by me." And me personally and a lot of my guys have stood by the president from day one. Before we were even an organization we were Trumpers.

Tarrio further claimed that recruitment for the Proud Boys has drastically increased since the debate “to the point that in my particular chapter I had to put a hold on vetting for new chapters.”

From the September 30, 2020, edition of Infowars' War Room

OWEN SHROYER (HOST): I would imagine your traffic is probably up. What about, like, inquiries for membership?

ENRIQUE TARRIO (CHAIRMAN, PROUD BOYS): You know what's funny about all of this? That it wasn't even the president that mentioned us. It was Joe Biden. And yes, our traffic today -- we've seen more traffic in the past couple of hours than I think -- I don't know, I'm just going to guestimate -- like 15, 16 hours than we have all year. Recruiting is through the roof, to the point that in my particular chapter I had to put a hold on vetting for new chapters. We've had about 60-something inquiries in my chapter alone, which puts our numbers pretty high at that point. But it's become a thing where site traffic -- the server's holding up. It was doing pretty bad in the morning but, you know, I'm happy about it. I'm not going to say that we're not. We're embracing it. You know? We made shirts that said, like, PBSBSB which means Proud Boys stand back stand by. So we're having fun with it like we always do.

While Trump has since attempted to walk his statement back, saying, “I don’t know who the Proud Boys are,” it is clear that his direct appeal to the group is providing them fuel for growth. A former Proud Boys member told CBS News that Trump’s statement “emboldened” the group.

The president has consistently refused to condemn white supremacy and hate groups, and his right-wing media allies never fail to defend his statements supporting bigotry. Now, the president’s words are helping a violent extremist group recruit more members.

Proud Boys chairman tells Infowars that Trump’s shoutout sent recruiting “through the roof”

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