Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right Proud Boys movement, is Florida director of an unaffiliated Latinos for Trump group that was threatened with legal action by the Trump campaign.
Tarrio, 34, was catapulted into the national spotlight amid increased scrutiny of the Proud Boys after President Trump faced multiple demands that he denounce the self-styled “Western chauvinist” group, best known for misogynistic politics and street brawls with left-wing protesters.
News reports on Thursday made much of a social media profile that suggested he was close to Trump insiders and Republican Party figures, but officials distanced themselves from him and said he was involved in an unofficial pro-Trump Latino group rather than a campaign-linked coalition with the same name.
Ken Farnaso, deputy national press secretary for Trump 2020, said Tarrio is “not affiliated with the Trump Campaign, the family, or our official Latinos for Trump coalition. He is also not the state director of our coalition and is not on our advisory board.”
The unofficial group was told last year to drop the use of the “Make America Great Again” slogan and display prominent disclaimers across its online presence explaining it was not linked to the campaign.
“The campaign appreciates the mission of Latinos for Trump and the seemingly positive role it is playing in promoting grass-roots support of President Trump,” said a cease-and-desist letter sent to the group and obtained by the Washington Examiner. “However, the campaign is of the view that LFT’s website, social media accounts and other marketing materials are likely to cause Trump supporters and the public at large to believe that the campaign and LFT are essentially one and the same, when they are not.”
The group now displays clear disclaimers but did not respond to a request for comment.
The fresh questions come after Trump was asked to denounce the Proud Boys and white supremacist ideology during the first presidential debate on Tuesday, but he instead said they should “stand back and stand by.” The next day, he said he had never heard of the Proud Boys, had previously denounced white supremacy, and that the Proud Boys should get out of the way of law enforcement.
However, Tarrio, who runs a security equipment company, is something of a Trump fellow traveler.
“Standing by sir,” he replied to the president’s debate comments using Parler, a social networking service popular among conservatives.
He has posed for selfies with a string of high-profile Republicans, including Donald Trump Jr., Roger Stone, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, and Sen. Ted Cruz.
He was interviewed by a local paper when Vice President Mike Pence launched the official Latinos for Trump Coalition in Miami last year.
And this year, he launched a brief campaign to represent Florida’s 27th Congressional District. He dropped out in August after raising less than $2,000 in campaign funds, according to campaign finance records obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
The Proud Boys were set up by Gavin McInnes, co-founder of Vice Media. He describes the group as a politically incorrect men’s club but denies that it is overtly racist or anti-Semitic.
For his part, Tarrio, the Miami-born son of Cuban immigrants, said it was wrong to think of the Proud Boys as white supremacists.
“I’m a ‘person of color,’ I’m a brown person, I’m chairman of the organization … I got voted in,” he told the United Kingdom’s Sky News.
Bianca Gracia, president of Latinos for Trump, defended his role.
“He is highly professional, just ran for Congress, and has helped our organization recruit, train, and mentor Latinos across the country by always promoting God, life, family, and freedom conservative principles,” she said.
