Daily US Times: The morning after a chaos debate punctuated by President Donald Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacy, his allies offered effusive public praise even as some privately worried his performance would alienate voters and others — including the Senate’s lone Black Republican.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, a supporter of the President’s, said: “I think he misspoke. I think he should correct it. If he doesn’t correct it, I guess he didn’t misspeak.”
Later, the President made an attempt at clarification, telling reporters at the White House that he’d never heard of the extremist group Proud Boys, whom he told to “stand by” the previous evening.
He said while departing for a campaign rally in Minnesota: “I don’t know who Proud Boys are. But whoever they are they have to stand down, let law enforcement do their work.”
But pressed on whether he welcomes support from white supremacists, the Republican President said only, “I want law and order — it’s a very important part of my campaign.”
And he continued to insist it was his rival, Democratic candidate Joe Biden who refused to condemn violence — “the problem is on the left,” he claimed — and declared victory in a debate even many of his closest allies believe went poorly.
According to Trump’s spokeswoman, the President was in “very good spirits” following the debate and his campaign insisted he “turned in the greatest debate performance in presidential history,” others around him appeared less sure.
A number of advisors for the President voiced concern he appeared overly aggressive and said the debating style he demonstrated Tuesday night was not the tactic discussed among advisers during preparatory sessions beforehand.
On Wednesday, some of the President’s allies said they believe he crashed and burned on a night that mattered to his reelection.
You may read: First presidential debate was pure chaos and personal attacks