Biden condemns Proud Boys, calls Trump's debate performance a "national embarrassment"
30 September 2020
Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that his message to all white supremacist groups is to "cease and desist. That’s not who we are. This is not who we are as Americans."
Driving the news: President Trump was asked specifically about the far-right group Proud Boys at the debate Tuesday night, and rather than condemning them, the president said, "Proud Boys: Stand back and standby."
Why it matters: Trump is facing intense backlash for the comments after an otherwise chaotic debate night, including from some Republicans who are urging him to clarify what he meant.
What they're saying: "My message to the Proud Boys and every other white supremacist organization is: Cease and desist. That’s not who we are. This is not who we are as Americans," Biden said Wednesday.
- "The American people will decide who the next president of the United States will be. Period. So, I’m urging the American people to go out and vote, show up. ... If, in fact, we win this election this president will stand down. The American people will not stand for it."
The big picture: Biden said Trump's performance at the debate was a "national embarrassment," and that he understands why some undecided voters who watched would be "turned off" to politics.
Go deeper: Tim Scott says Trump "misspoke" when he told Proud Boys to "stand by"
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.