US Representative Matt Gaetz evoked language adopted by the far right Proud boys extremist group when they appeared in court on Thursday to support Donald Trump in your secret money trialreflecting the trend of activist elements present among the presumptive Republican nominee’s supporters as he seeks a return to the White House.
“Standing back and standing by, Mr. President,” Gaetz wrote while posting a photo of himself on social media with other congressional Republicans standing behind Trump in a hallway outside the courthouse where the former president’s criminal case is in its fourth week of testimony. .
The Proud Boys – whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — have used this verbiage since Trump, during a 2020 campaign debate, said, “Proud Boys, Stand Back and Stand By.”
This came in response to a question from debate moderator Chris Wallace asking whether Trump would condemn white supremacist and militia groups that appeared at some social justice protests across the country that following summer the death of George Floyd.
“I don’t know who the Proud Boys are,” Trump said a day later, after facing widespread criticism for not specifically condemning their actions, adding: “Whoever they are, they have to go. to work.”
Proud Boys leaders and supporters later celebrated Trump’s opening words on social media. A channel on Telegram, an instant messaging service, with tens of thousands of group members posting “Stand Back” and “Stand By” above and below the group logo.
After Trump’s debate comment, Proud Boys membership “probably tripled,” member Jeremy Joseph Bertino told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Bertino pleaded guilty to conspire with other members of the Proud Boys to violently impede the transfer of presidential power after Trump lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Members wearing the group’s black and yellow insignia have appeared on the sidelines of Trump rallies across the country this campaign cycle, in which Trump made the Jan. 6 attack. a cornerstone of your offering. Having previously sworn forgive the troublemakersTrump played a recorded chorus of prisoners jailed for their roles in the attack at some rallies. singing the national anthem and referred to them as “hostages.”
Gaetz, of Florida, was part of a contingent of conservative lawmakers who showed up to court to support Trump on Thursday, the latest in a procession of elected Republicans who have traveled to the New York courthouse in recent days to defend Trump’s presumptive presidential nominee. broken. Trump is accused of organizing secret payments to a porn actress to hide negative stories during his successful campaign for president in 2016.
Asked by email whether Gaetz intentionally used verbiage adopted by the Proud Boys, spokesman Joel Valdez said, “the tweet speaks for itself.”
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Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Lisa Mascaro contributed from Washington.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
