Sold by Stand Back Stand By, Be a Proud Boy, the merchandise began popping up on the retail giant’s website early Wednesday morning. Men’s and women’s T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, and tank tops displayed the phrase in bright yellow lettering on a black shirt, while other items added “Trump 2020” and the number 45 squared. At one point, a black and yellow flag that read “Proud Boys” in large block letters was also sold.
President Donald Trump’s failure to condemn white supremacy in the U.S. and his “stand back and stand by” response toward the far-right extremist group—which has incited violence at anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country—was one of the most controversial takeaways from the presidential debate. The Proud Boys have since embraced the slogan, praising it on free-speech social media platforms like Telegram and Parler.
The Proud Boys are labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Since the debate, several members of the Trump administration have attempted to justify the president’s statement. Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, said that “stand by” may have been “a misspeak,” while Trump’s campaign aid Jason Miller told The New York Times that he was clearly asking them to “knock it off.”
Asked why he told the hate group to “stand by,” Trump said to reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he doesn’t know who the Proud Boys are, but advised them to “stand down” and “let law enforcement do their work.”
“Law enforcement will do the work more and more as people see how bad this radical liberal Democrat movement is and how weak,” Trump said. “Our law enforcement is going to come back stronger and stronger.”
