Continuing Appropriations Act, 20201 and Other Extensions Act--

Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, I rise today to condemn President Trump's refusal to denounce White supremacy during last night's Presidential debate.

At a time when this Nation is having a profound discussion about race--with anti-Semitism rearing its ugly head here in the United States and around the globe and the Nation being torn apart over political differences--our leaders, particularly our President, must call out hate in all its forms.

Last night, the President failed to rise to the occasion, and he failed the American people in doing so. On the global stage in the year 2020, the leader of the free world gave an unequivocal wink and nod to White supremacists, racists, and neo-Nazis, all while the Nation and the world looked on in absolute horror.

Not only did the President of our United States not condemn the White supremacist violence that he has incited during his tenure, he implicitly gave them marching orders.

When asked to condemn the hate group, the Proud Boys, the President of the United States said that they should ``stand back and stand by.'' Let me repeat. He gave the order for them to ``stand back and stand by.''

There is no justification for his words or for his refusal to give a clear, direct, and swift condemnation of White supremacy.

The President's emboldening of violent extremists comes just as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security named White supremacist extremists as the most significant terrorism-related threat right here in the United States.

As a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I heard the FBI Director testify to this very point just last week. The message was clear: White supremacists pose a dangerous and violent threat to our homeland.

Against this backdrop, the President's shocking remarks last night were, in fact, a continuation of deeply disturbing patterns of racist and anti-Semitic behavior that this President has allowed to take place on his watch.

Three years ago in Charlottesville, violent chaos and hatred were on full display for the world to see. As neo-Nazis openly marched in the streets, they chanted: ``Jews will not replace us'' and ``blood and soil.''

President Trump not only didn't denounce this anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric, he did something much worse. He did something much worse. He praised the White nationalists. He praised them as ``very fine people.'' These were not very fine people.

Just last month, a teen vigilante asked his mother to drive him across State lines to the protests in Kenosha with a rifle. He went there to use it, and, in fact, he did. He took the life of two people and shot a third. He has been charged with homicide and rightly so. Instead of condemning this act of hatred, President Trump has hailed this murderer as a ``hero.''

But this is the norm for President Trump. The President's use of dog whistles and charged language gives a voice to White supremacy and empowers vigilantes. It is inexcusable, and it is indefensible.

This rise in hatred that the President fails to condemn is one of the reasons why, last year, I cofounded the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism. The goal of this bipartisan, nonpartisan endeavor is to help stop hate before it starts, to call out bigotry and anti-Semitism wherever we see it--left, right, or center. I am proud of the work that we have done so far to push back on anti-Semitism right here in the United States, in Europe, in the Middle East, and around the world.

But the President's silence and his disturbing call to arms to White supremacist groups like the Proud Boys make our work that much harder.

Some of the President's defenders often write off his most troubling statements, claiming the President misspoke or that we just don't understand what he is trying to say or that is his speaking style or that he is just joking.

Let me be clear. He didn't misspeak last night. He didn't make a joke last night. And regardless of what others say, words matter. His words matter. He is the President of the United States.

Let me say today, as the President should have said last night--and I invite all of my colleagues here in this Chamber to join me in repeating this statement: I condemn White nationalism; I condemn racism; I condemn anti-Semitism; and I condemn and denounce the groups that promote these vile ideologies, the Proud Boys among them.

We must speak out, and we must take action. I urge my colleagues, again, on both sides of the aisle, not to be complicit in their silence. I want them all to join me. I want you all to join me in denouncing White supremacy, as President Trump failed to do, clearly and explicitly, in last night's debate.

This is not a partisan issue. It never will be a partisan issue.

I hope all my colleagues join me in denouncing hatred in all forms.

I yield back.

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