If you weren’t already familiar with the Proud Boys, the far-right group known for spouting white nationalist, anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric, before last night, you probably are now. But you may not know they’re named after a hit Broadway musical.
During Tuesday night’s presidential debate sh*t storm, when given the opportunity to denounce white supremacy, Donald Trump instead delivered this message: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” The group instantly started celebrating the callout online.
“To say Proud Boys are energized by this is an understatement,” Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University in North Carolina who tracks online extremism, told NBC. “They were pro-Trump before this shoutout, and they are absolutely over the moon now. Their fantasy is to fight antifa in his defense, and he apparently just asked them to do just that.”
Related: Dana Bash calling last night’s debate a “sh*t show” on live TV is all of us
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There’s no getting around it — the idea that this group of extremists would feel endorsed by the president to enact violence is a terrifying prospect.
And reminding everyone that their name is, in fact, taken from the song “Proud Of Your Boy” from the 2011 Broadway production of Disney’s Aladdin does not detract from the very real threat posed to the nation.
But just so we’re all clear, that is where the name comes from, according to this guide to the org published by Wired in 2017.
So the next time you see the group rallying for Trump, clashing with protesters, or doing any number of things that may be justifiably frightening, just think of this:
vinnieboiblue
These same bigots used a word associated with PRIDE. Could they be closeted hicks?
toddlicious
This article makes no connection to the song and the proud boys name. Zero connection. None. You can’t just say, “but just to be clear, that is where the name comes from” without siting any evidence. Horrible reporting.
justgeo
But this Aladdin is Kinda hot a few glasses of red wine and there could be a good rub smach on the magic carpet!
Wolfwalk
The Proud Boys is grossly misnamed. They love “real news” and hate “fake news,” so they should call themselves what they are: “Trump’s Terrorist Thugs,” the TTT, which they hope will replace the KKK as the nation’s most hated white supremacist group.
QueerBoi1983
Clearly, this is fake news. Just listen to lyrics and you’d know that right wing, fascist, misogynistic thugs could care less about repenting and making their mothers “proud of your boy”.
jms42
He took the name from the song because he interpreted the song as meaning he was apologizing for being male.
hansniemeijer
Good thing is that Fred Perry stopped producing black with yellow poloshirts.