Former Vice President Joe Biden mistakenly called the Proud Boys the “Poor Boys” as he tried to link the controversial organization to President Donald Trump in the final presidential debate.
“He said about the Poor Boys [sic] last time we were on stage here he said, ‘I tell them to stand down and stand ready,'” Biden said, referring to a moment in the first presidential debate. “C’mon! This guy has a dog whistle as big as a foghorn.”
During the first debate, Biden demanded that Trump denounce the “Proud Boys,” a right-wing group, as “white supremacists.”
Here is the exchange from the first presidential debate during a conversation about white supremacy:
Trump: Go ahead. Who would you like me to condemn?
Biden: White supremacists. The Proud Boys.
Trump: Who.
Wallace: White supremacists and right-wing militia.
Trump: Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you what. Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left. Because this is not a right-wing problem.
Biden and his supporters repeatedly attacked Trump for failing to denounce the Proud Boys — Trump ultimately did, and repeated that he also condemned white supremacy several times.
“I don’t know who the Proud Boys are, I mean you have to give me a definition,” Trump said in September. “Because I really don’t know who they are. I can only say they have to stand down, let law enforcement do their work.”
In October, Trump also criticized the Proud Boys in an interview with Sean Hannity.
“I don’t know much about the Proud Boys, almost nothing, but I condemn that,” he said.