September 30, 2020

President Trump Still Hasn’t Denounced the Proud Boys

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Wednesday is crash day for me, so I’ve been asleep for the past five hours. Naturally, then, I’m curious: Has President Trump managed to denounce the Proud Boys yet? Let’s take a look:

Q Mr. President, can you explain what you meant last night when you said that the Proud Boys should “stand back and stand by”?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know who the Proud Boys are. I mean, you’ll have to give me a definition, because I really don’t know who they are. I can only say they have to stand down, let law enforcement do their work….But again, I don’t know who Proud Boys are. But whoever they are, they have to stand down. Let law enforcement do their work.

Nope, no denouncement there. Just a feeble claim that he’s never heard of a widely known violent neo-fascist group whose members zealously support him. (Trump has played this game for years.) This has prompted a few Republicans to criticize Trump, but most of them are still remaining silent. On the other hand, apparently Jake Tapper has finally had enough:


34 days to go.

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A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

The December 31 deadline is closing in fast. To reach our $400,000 goal, we need readers who’ve never given before to join the ranks of MoJo donors. And we need our steadfast supporters to give again—any amount today.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

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