Rep. Matt Gaetz's entire political brand revolves around provocation. But the Florida Republican's post about X on Thursday was truly surprising even by his usual standards. Gates stands behind Donald Trump during his criminal trial in New York in a photo of himself and other Republicans, with the former president blurred in the foreground and Gates in focus in the background, staring into the camera. was published. Next to the photo were the words, “Mr. President, stand back and wait.”
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Gates' caption echoes Trump's infamous response during the 2020 presidential debate when he was asked whether he would condemn white supremacists and militia groups. “Proud boys, stand back and wait,” President Trump said. The Proud Boys took President Trump's words as a sign of approval. Members of the extremist group reportedly called it “historic” and saw it as an endorsement of violent tactics. The Proud Boys Telegram channel posted the phrases “Stand Back” and “Stand By” above and below the group's logo in the channel. Then, within six months, he became an integral part of the Proud Boys' organized effort to storm the U.S. Capitol during the January 6th riot.
The broader implication is clear: Mr. Trump should assume his supporters are prepared to intervene in any way possible to protect him.
Now, as President Trump's Manhattan trial enters its fourth week, Gates is bringing back the phrase. Gates is not a proud boy, and we shouldn't expect to see him rush to court trying to get a favorable verdict. But the broader allusion is clear. Trump should assume that his supporters are prepared to intervene in any way possible to protect him, including breaking the law.
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A sign of this for us is that President Trump is beginning to rely on Republican allies to circumvent the gag order he is under during his trial. As my colleague Hayes Brown recently explained, Trump has relied on his allies as de facto proxies in ways that may violate the law.
Republican officials lined up outside the courtroom, arguing that President Trump could no longer take risks.They include attacks on [Judge Juan] Marchan's daughter is a political consultant who worked for the Democratic Party and was heavily criticized by President Trump ahead of the amended gag order banning attacks on judges' families. They also insulted a witness who testified this week, former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, in a way that put President Trump at odds with the judge.
As Brown points out, Trump is prohibited from instructing others to violate gag orders, so it's unclear whether he will continue to get away with this, but he will prove whether he does. It's difficult. But the spirit of this phenomenon is already clear. In the final phase of outlawing the trial and influencing its outcome, President Trump's allies appear to be supporting him in defying the judge's orders. It all assumes a complete disdain for the criminal justice system when it threatens the power of their movement.
More broadly, Gates is appealing to the entire conservative movement to continue embracing the sentiment behind the “stand back and wait” directive. He is actively recruiting those on the right to consider themselves a militia on Trump's behalf, and is willing to use force to force society to bend to his movement's will. President Trump's words in the 2020 debate were not a warning to his base to avoid violence or abandon authoritarian impulses, but to be strategic about them. It was something. One of those strategic moments was January 6, 2021. We don't know when the next one will be, but we do know that Trump's allies are actively preparing their base for it.
