“Antifa is an idea, not an organization,” said former Vice President Joe Biden to President Donald Trump during Tuesday night’s presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.
Biden’s claim was made after Fox News Channel’s Chris Wallace warned of “white supremacist” groups causing violence and social unrest.
Wallace said to Trump,
You have repeatedly criticized the vice president for not specifically calling out Antifa and other left-wing extremist groups, but are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups, and to say they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha and as we’ve seen in Portland.
“Almost everything I’ve seen is from the left wing, not the right wing,” replied Trump.
Biden also blamed Trump for fomenting social unrest across the nation in pursuit of political advantage.
“Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left, because this is not a right-wing problem,” said Trump of ongoing riots driven by leftist organizations such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter. “This is a left-wing problem.”
Biden paraphrased FBI Director Chris Wray’s recent characterization of Antifa as more of an “ideology” than an organization. “That’s what his FBI director said,” stated Biden while pointing at Trump.
“Antifa is an organization, not an idea,” replied Trump. “Antifa is a dangerous, radical group, and you better be careful with them. They’ll overthrow you.”