The Proud Boys Provide "Security" at an Event Headlined by Matt Gaetz

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) defended the Proud Boys — not for the first time — during a segment on his podcast, Hot Takes with Matt Gaetz.

A multiracial far-right movement founded in 2016, the Proud Boys describe themselves as “western chauvinists,” and are rooted in an ideology of violence, misogyny, and white nationalism. The Proud Boys have multiple levels of membership: Level one simply requires saying “I am a western chauvinist, and I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” The second level requires being physically beaten by fellow Proud Boys while yelling out the names of five breakfast cereals. Level three requires giving up masturbation entirely, or at minimum refraining from masturbating more than one time a month. After meeting these requirements, members must get a Proud Boys tattoo.

Finally, in the words of founder Gavin McInnes, a Proud Boy must “get beat up, kick the crap out of an antifa” or engage in a similar type of physical altercation. McInnes has a long history of racism, antisemitism, and advocacy for violence — and the Proud Boys’ activities and belief system are modeled after this. In 2017, as part of an anti-Jewish rant, McInnes said he was “becoming antisemitic.”

Gaetz made no effort to distance himself from the Proud Boys. Instead, he attempted to sanitize their public image: “I want to share my experience with the Proud Boys. I know this is a sensitive subject,” Gaetz began. He then said “they have been labeled a racist organization” before playing audio from the first presidential debate during which the Proud Boys were mentioned, and Trump told them to “stand back and stand by.”

“if one only knew that [what was said during the debate] they would come to the conclusion that the founding and organizing principle of this group is one of exclusion and racism…And I don’t know much about the Proud Boys in terms of their doctrine and ideology, but I do know a Proud Boy and he’s a gay rights activist.”

That the Proud Boys have gay members is not a surprise, nor does it counteract the group’s violence, misogyny, and white nationalism. As the Southern Poverty Law Center has reported, “Any man — no matter his race or sexual-orientation — can join the fraternal organization as long as they ‘recognize that white men are not the problem.’”

Gaetz went on to describe his interactions with multiple members of the extremist group on at least two other occasions:

“I also had occasion, at a recent speaking event, where I attended something, where there were a lot of folks coming in and out. I met a man who came up and introduced himself to me as the president of the Proud Boys. And he was Black, and I was a bit startled by the fact that the man standing before me didn’t match the characterization of the Proud Boys that I had heard in this debate.”

The ‘president’ Gaetz referenced is almost certainly Enrique Tarrio, an Afro-Cuban resident of Miami who became the leader of the Proud Boys after McInnes stepped down. Tarrio attended the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, at which Heather Heyer was murdered, and told the New York Times in 2018, “I think the president was correct in saying that there were good people on both sides and bad people on both sides.” While Tarrio is also the Florida director of a group called Latinos for Trump, even the Trump campaign has attempted to distance themselves from him. “This individual is not affiliated with the Trump campaign, the family, or our official Latinos for Trump coalition,” a campaign spokesperson told the New York Times in the fall of 2020.

Defenders of the Proud Boys often invoke the group’s non-white members in an attempt to contradict the idea that it is a white nationalist organization. As previously noted, the Proud Boys are perfectly happy to include men of color and gay men in the group, provided they adhere to the ideologies of white nationalism, misogyny, and violence.

Gaetz went on to describe (9:40) his most recent encounter with the Proud Boys, at a “Northwest Florida Patriotic Day” event in Milton, FL. Also in attendance were Black Voices for Trump and Okaloosa County Republican State Committeewoman Sandra Atkinson.

“As I was leaving the event, one of the folks who brought me there said ‘did you notice who was helping us with security?’ And I said ‘no, who was that?’ And she said, ‘it was the Proud Boys.’ And I thought ‘my goodness, the Proud Boys providing security and safety for Black Voices for Trump, and attending a pro-America rally in the deep south…just doesn’t seem to match the characterizations that I’ve heard.”

Matt Gaetz patting the back of a man in a Proud Boys hat | October 17, 2020 | WEAR-TV

Matt Gaetz standing behind a man in a Proud Boys shirt | October 17, 2020 | WEAR-TV

Gaetz went on to add, at minute 10:35:

“Now when I meet someone, I don’t know the moment I meet them if they’re a racist or a bigot…I do think it’s important to judge the things that people have said and the things that people have done, but I also think it’s important to judge the experiences that you have with folks, and the experiences that I have personally observed and had with the Proud Boys, the, I think, patriotic contribution that they’ve made to keeping Black people safe who wanted to speak about politics in the deep south is admirable. Now that’s not to say everything they’ve ever said or done is admirable — I don’t know everything they’ve said or done.”

(One and a half months prior to the Milton event, members of the Proud Boys brutally beat Black Lives Matter activists in Portland, Oregon).

“I think we need a dynamic landscape of ideas and ideologies and doctrines, and then we get to see how each of them when utilized can impact our lives. And hopefully we find inclusive and kind ways to adopt a doctrine in this country that’s reflective of the success and the graciousness that we’ve experienced and that we’ve shared with the world”

“I think that when we’re trying to cancel every group or segment among us because we don’t like their politics it diminishes the vibrance and diversity of our country, it doesn’t enhance it.”

White nationalism, violence, and misogyny are not ideologies and doctrines worthy of inclusion, and they do not enhance the vibrancy and diversity of the United States. In fact, they do the opposite.