Show an ad over header. AMP  

How Trump advisers feel about his Proud Boy comments at the debate

30 September 2020
 Dan Ackermann

President Trump's advisers feel the president needs to outright condemn far-right extremists and white supremacy during his rally tonight in Minnesota.

Why it matters: Trump sent shockwaves during the debate for telling the far-right Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by."

  • The group is described by the Anti-Defamation League as "misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and anti-immigration."
  • Many congressional Republicans pressed Trump to correct the record today, including Tim Scott, the Senate's lone Black Republican.
  • The Trump campaign's view is that he was ambushed by the question and that the president doesn't even know who the Proud Boys are.
  • "We're aggressively pushing back on the narrative," one official told Axios.

Before boarding Marine One this afternoon, Trump told reporters he doesn't know the group, but they should stand down and let law enforcement do its work.

  • One Trump aide said this is a start, but that the general consensus among those close to the president is that he still needs to outright condemn far-right extremists.

Trump’s advisers are also planning to encourage the president to interrupt Joe Biden less in the next two debates.

  • Some Trump aides are privately frustrated with Chris Christie, who called Trump "a little too hot" on the stage after helping him with debate prep.
  • "It was a widely shared consensus," including from Christie, that Trump should be aggressive and go after Biden, one campaign official told Axios.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

What's next:Changes are coming to the debates, with an announcement to come shortly.

  • The Commission on President Debates said it needs "additional structure" before the remaining rounds to avoid last night's unwatchable mess.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

Newly 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.