The Proud Boys' New Plan for Power
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
4.3 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 14 July 2022
⏱️ 24 minutes
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Summary
The Proud Boys started as a loose coalition of men who filtered misogyny and racism through an ironic, “just joking” veneer. But once Donald Trump told them to “stand back and stand by” from the debate stage, it became clear that something more serious was happening. After taking part in the Jan. 6 insurrection, the Proud Boys have become even more active in GOP politics, choosing candidates, and even running candidates from their own ranks.
Guest: Andy Campbell, Senior Editor at HuffPost and author of upcoming book We Are Proud Boys.
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Transcript
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| 0:35.9 | Earlier this week, the January 6th Select Committee built this case. They pointed out a |
| 0:42.0 | tweet that Donald Trump sent in the middle of the night on December 19th. And this tweet, |
| 0:47.7 | the committee said, it was a bat signal for organized extremists all over the country. You remember |
| 0:57.5 | this tweet, the one that talked about a big protest in DC on January 6th, and ended with a flourish. |
| 1:04.2 | Be there. We'll be wild. Here's Committee Member Jamie Raskin. As we'll see, Donald Trump's 142 |
| 1:12.3 | AM tweet electrified and galvanized his supporters, especially the dangerous extremists and the oath |
| 1:18.9 | keepers, the proud boys, and other racist and white nationalist groups, spoiling for a fight |
| 1:24.4 | against the government. The committee mapped out how this one message pinged around the internet. |
| 1:30.8 | It felt as if a mob was being organized. This is testimony from an anonymous source inside Twitter |
| 1:39.4 | itself. The person's voice has been disguised. They explain how they watched Twitter users light |
| 1:45.6 | up at the invitation to come to DC. I very much believe that Donald Trump posting this tweet |
| 1:52.0 | on December 19th was essentially speaking a flag in DC on January 6th for his supporters to come |
| 2:03.5 | and rally. And you were concerned about the potential for this gathering becoming violent. |
| 2:09.7 | Absolutely. It was very clear that individuals were ready willing and able to take up arms. |
| 2:19.6 | Then this enthusiasm on Twitter, it jumped to Reddit and YouTube. |
| 2:24.9 | One post encouraged others to come with body armor, knuckles, shields, bats, |
... |
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