Michael Cohen: Trump ‘Called the Supremacist Horde to Their Battle Stations’ — ‘This Is His Army’

President Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen said on Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Beat” that the president “called the supremacist horde to their battle stations” at the first 2020 presidential debate.

Melber said, “Michael, you’ve spoken out about witnessing Donald Trump’s bigotry behind closed doors. You’ve spoken about it. You’ve written about it. So I go to you first. Take a look at this big moment in the debate.”

In a video clip from the debate, Trump said, “Proud Boys stand back and stand by. I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what. Somebody has to do something about Antifa and the left. This is not a right-wing problem.”

Melber said, “Stand by to the Proud Boys when he was asked about white supremacy. Your view of that and what have you seen in your time with him that helps explain that, so people know what they’re voting on if they want to support him in November.”

Cohen said, “Trump has made racism a central tenet of this campaign, and in this case, he’s blown his dog whistle at the Proud Boys. He’s essentially called the supremacist horde to their battle stations.”

He added, “It’s not what people think. You have to understand Donald Trump to understand — and I say this a lot in my book, Disloyal — what he’s really thinking. He’s refusing to disavow them because they are now his army. And he will call them to arms when he loses, as an attempt on regain control, order, power. He sees them as an army. They dress like an army, they behave like an army. They brandish the Trump flag, the Make America Great Again flag, as they walk down the street attacking people. This is his army. And he intends on calling them back.”

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