Kayleigh McEnany Defends Trump Telling Proud Boys to ‘Stand Back and Stand By’: Stand Back is a ‘Synonym’ For Stand Down

Kayleigh McEnany defended President Donald Trump’s call to neo-fascist group Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” arguing that “stand back” was a synonym for stand down.

During a Thursday briefing, CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins asked McEnany about Trump’s debate comments, questioning why the Proud Boys would be celebrating if the president truly denounced them.

“The Proud Boys or people who consider them to be members of this group give voice to these misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant views, they’re a despicable group by pretty much anyone’s standards,” Collins said of the far-right group. “So when the president was asked about them and you say he denounced them. That’s what you are insisting he did on the debate stage the other night. If that is the case, why are they celebrating what the president said on the debate stage in front of millions of people?”

McEnany pointed out that she does not speak for the group, so she can’t explain why they would take the president’s comments as a rallying cry. Collins then pushed back, noting that if he truly denounced them, they would not put “stand back and stand by” on t-shirts and badges. 

“The president did denounce them. He was asked, ‘will you tell them to stand down?’ he said ‘sure,'” McEnany said. “Then just yesterday when he was asked he said specifically ‘stand down,’ a synonym with stand back.”

McEnany went on to blast the media, noting that they are the only group making headlines with the words “Proud Boys,” ignoring the fact that no other profession has the capacity to write headlines.

Collins noted that both Trump and McEnany are still refusing to condemn white supremacy and are only pointing to past statements they have made.

“Republicans are calling on the president to be more forceful, his own party,” Collins said before McEnany called on another reporter.

Watch above, via Fox News.