Getty People take a knee as an organizer reads a prayer to the crowd of several hundred gathered during a Proud Boys rally at Delta Park in Portland, Oregon on September 26, 2020.
A Proud Boys member warned “we’re rolling out” after presidential candidate Joe Biden was named the 46th president-elect.
Shortly after Decision Desk HQ and other outlets named Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential race, defeating President Donald Trump in his bid for reelection, a self-proclaimed Proud Boys “chairman” stated that Trump’s “standby order” was no longer in effect.
The claim, made on the microblogging website Parler, references Trump’s previous calls for the alt-right group to “stand back and stand by.”
“We’re rolling out,” the chairman wrote, under the handle @NobleLead. “Standby order has been rescinded.”
Parler screen shot
The Proud Boys, formed in 2016 by Vice Co-Founder Gavin McInnis (who left the group in 2018), describes the organization as “Western Chauvinists who refuse to apologize for the modern world,” according to Parler.
The group’s manifesto states that it is “socially liberal and welcomes gay members.” It adds that they “disavow Nazis” and “racists.”
“We allow weak, beta male virgins to join because our fraternity is about helping men improve their lives and that includes all men,” the manifesto continues.
Rolling Stone reported in August 2019, “Above all else, their target is the overall ‘feminization’ of Western culture or the idea that masculinity has been slowly degraded by leftist ideology; their core beliefs can best be summarized as a mélange of neofascism, Fight Club-esque hypermasculinity band early-2000s-era hipster trolling.”
@NobleLead later followed up on his “rolling out” comment, accusing the media of turning it into “some type of call for violence.”
“This is how they make protesting illegal,” he continued.
Here’s what you need to know:
Trump Previously Told the Proud Boys to ‘Stand Back & Stand By’
Chris Wallace: “Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down…”
Trump: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left.”
Although it is unclear what @NobleLead’s true intentions were, the warning alludes to Trump’s September instructions to the group.
Trump during the first 2020 presidential debate on September 29 refused to denounce white supremacy when prodded by moderator Chris Wallace. Instead, he ordered the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
“Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down?” Wallace asked.
Trump responded, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left.”
Far right groups quickly took to social media to celebrate the president’s comments, according to Business Insider.
Although experts on extremism warned that Trump “essentially just helped the Proud Boys recruit,” the president later claimed that he did not know about the group, the outlet continued.
Trump Has Frequently Been Endorsed by White Supremacist Groups
GettyArmed members of the far-right Proud Boys groups stand guard during a memorial for Patriot Prayer member Aaron Jay Danielson on September 5, 2020 in Vancouver, Washington.
This isn’t the first time that the president has garnered support among hate groups and white supremacist organizations.
Trump has “been endorsed by white supremacist groups and other far-right extremists,” Business Insider claimed. “And they’ve looked to him as a source of encouragement.”
The outlet highlighted a 2016 incident in which the Ku Klux Klan’s official newspaper endorsed Trump for president. Although his campaign denounced the initiative, Trump “continued to spread disinformation on immigrants and refugees in an effort to dehumanize and villify them,” Business Insider said.
Following Trump’s election to the oval office, white nationalists gathered in Washington state for a conference to celebrate the win with “Nazi salutes,” the outlet added.
“Richard Spencer, a well-known neo-Nazi, in a speech opening up the conference said: ‘Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!'” Business Insider noted.
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