The fallout from Tuesday night’s Presidential debate continues, as Republican lawmakers supporting Donald Trump struggled to explain why he did not clearly denounce white supremacism. As a reminder, Trump in his first debate with Joe Biden said this in response to moderator Chris Wallace’s question. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to name Trump but said it is, “unacceptable not to condemn white supremacists.” Tim Scott, the Senate’s only Black Republican said that Trump “misspoke,” and should fix his error. But then he added, “If he doesn’t correct it, I guess he didn’t misspeak.” Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump should, “make it clear Proud Boys is a racist organization antithetical to American ideals.” On Thursday White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany got caught in a back-and-forth with Fox News reporter John Roberts who asked her as the president’s spokesperson to simply make a clear declaration against white supremacy. She refused, instead reading several of Trump’s past quotes. Fox reporter John Roberts later on his own network expressed his frustration about the White House’s deflections on taking a stand against white supremacy. 

A day after the debate Mr. Trump suddenly remembered that he didn’t know who the Proud Boys were saying, “I really don’t know who they are.” But Republicans did back Trump on his debate threat to send his supporters to watch the polls on election night. The party is supporting the Trump campaign which, according to one report, “has distributed carefully lawyered training videos to prospective poll watchers around the country describing what they can and can’t do while monitoring the voting process.” Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times spoke with voters of color after the debate. Many saw the November 3rd race as a referendum on white supremacy. One Black voter told the Times, “As African Americans, this is nothing new to us. This is a modern-day expression of what has been happening for 400 years.”

In an interview with the New York Times Chris Wallace expressed deep regret for how the debate turned into a train wreck as Mr. Trump repeatedly shouted and interrupted Biden for nearly the entire 90-minute debate. Wallace said, “I never dreamt that it would go off the tracks the way it did.” And, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert took issue with Trump lying about his position on masks during the debate when he claimed that Fauci had changed his position on the importance of mask-wearing as protection from Covid-19. Fauci said after the debate, “I have been on the airways, on the radio, on TV, begging people to wear masks.” The President’s behavior was nearly universally condemned and his latest poll numbers reflected as much.