In this October 28, 2020 interview, Dennis Prager questions Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, about the group’s identity, goals, and public actions. Tarrio describes the Proud Boys as a pro‑family, masculinity‑promoting organization that seeks to create "better men"—brothers, husbands, fathers—arguing that fatherless homes underlie most mass shootings. He claims the group has about 22,000 members worldwide, fields political candidates, pastors, and engages in direct actions such as removing Black Lives Matter signs from Lafayette Park in front of the White House. Tarrio emphasizes that the Proud Boys do not attend BLM or Antifa protests, instead holding their own rallies, including two anti‑domestic‑terrorism events in Portland. He outlines the group’s online presence (proudboysusa.com and a merchandise shop) and stresses that they accept no donations, operating out of “love.” When Prager cites external sources labeling the Proud Boys as neo‑fascist and a hate group, Tarrio denies current ties to white‑nationalist founder Gavin McInnes, noting McInnes stepped down after legal troubles but remains a personal friend. Throughout, Tarrio frames the Proud Boys as a conservative, non‑violent “Swiss‑army‑knife” of politics, counter‑censorship, and family‑focused activism.
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All right, everybody, Dennis Prager here speaking to the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio. So in a nutshell, I mean, you said you were— the Proud Boys were essentially guys who get together and drink and cuss and etc., etc. But what do you stand for?
So what we simply stand for, it's very easy. We are a group that is very pro-family, and the way that we promote that is we want to make better men, right? Whether that means make better brothers, make better husbands, make better fathers. A statistic that I bring up is, you know, mass shootings are horrible, right? And 23 of the past 26 mass shootings have something in common, and it's not what the Democrats have been preaching about how they acquired a gun or background checks or anything, 23 of the past 26 mass shooters come from fatherless homes. It's a culture problem that you can't legislate your way out of. So what we do is we promote masculinity is what we do. We promote the family. So that's our main purpose. Now we have members, we have across the world, we have 22,000 members, probably more now after Joe Biden's advertisement on the first debate. But we could stretch ourselves in many different directions, whether it's on the legislative side. We have Proud Boys that are running for Congress. We have Proud Boys that are pastors. I'm currently right in front of the White House. We do things that typically you don't think conservatives do. Lafayette Park has been riddled with these BLM signs. And last night I came in here with Beverly and Beatty and we took down all those BLM signs. This is the first time in 6 months that you're able to see the front of the White House. Um, they've, they've, they've— we've essentially just cleaned it all up. And, uh, people— I'm, I'm watching people right now taking pictures in front of the White House, and, uh, I'm very happy that we did so. So, um, but like I said, Dennis, we were, we're a Swiss, uh, army knife of politics.
So you, again, I say you are known for showing up where there are BLM protests or riots for that matter. And the purpose of your showing up is what?
Well, no, we don't show up. So we don't show up. We didn't show up in any BLM protests when it came to the George Floyd riots. We actually stayed clear of them. We actually stay clear of even Antifa events. We host our own events. We throw pretty good rallies. We did two end-domestic-terrorism rallies in Portland, and we stayed very far away from the city center, which is the epicenter of what I think where all these riots initially came from, where we see the mayor and the governor out to absolutely nothing while their city burns. That's to us, and I think to many Americans, the act of violence for political gain is what terrorism is. And we protest against that. We protest against censorship of conservatives on these digital platforms. There's many things that we do, but those are the two focuses, I guess, right now.
Do you have a website?
Yes, proudboysusa.com. And then I have, I run the 1776 prideboys96.shop, which is our merchandise store also, um, where people can see what the Proud Boys are about. We have no donation links. You cannot donate to the Proud Boys, and that's something that we're always going to hold. Um, we don't— we do things out of, out of, out of love, and, uh, we don't want to involve anything that has to do with, uh, with, uh, donations to our organization.
So this is interesting. The, uh, I, I I just put in during the break, I put in Google Proud Boys website. This is what I find out, right? I get Proud Boys Wikipedia, which I— which already in the first sentence calls you neo-fascist. Then I get the hate group, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is a bona fide left-wing hate group. And By the way, so I looked even at what the Southern Poverty Law Center hate group described. And so listen to this, this is how it begins. Their disavowals of bigotry are belied by their actions. Rank and file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes. So I, I looked for what your white nationalist memes are, and I clicked on the word white nationalist, which is a URL, you know, it's underlined, and all I get is another Southern Poverty Law Center website about, or a page about white nationalism. It's not about you. Yeah, uh, so, uh, I, um, all right, so here's an example. Okay, so they go down and they, they quote Gavin McGinnis a lot. Is, is he still with you? Is he still the—
no, he's, he's, he's a good friend of mine, but he is no longer with the organization. He actually stepped down because of, uh, our, uh, our guys being arrested in New York City, uh, and going to trial without facing their accuser. But, uh, he stepped down because of that. But Gavin's still a good friend of mine. I still watch his show, uh, still help him where I could. Uh, he helps me out when he could, but no, he's not part of the organization currently.
All right, so here's a comment that they're all— all the examples of the haters seem to be attributed, none of them to you, they're all to Gavin McGinnis. And, uh, so here's So here's an example. I'm not a fan of Islam. I think it's fair to call me Islamophobic. So why is that racist? I mean, it may be wrong, it may be a whole host of things, but I— Islam is not a race, but it's not a white nationalist issue. All right. Anyway, listen, I'd like to talk to you again. At least I wanted to make acquaintance with you and have my listeners know more about Proud Boys. That was Enrique Tarrio, the leader of Proud Boys.
