Donald Trump told a white racist group to “stand back and stand by” during the first presidential debate.

Other than Donald Trump’s steamroller-on-steroids approach to his (so-called) debate with Joe Biden, it was the big news Tuesday night. But language is a tricky thing. It’s easy to misspeak in the heat of battle, especially with so many words being shot from the hip.

So was Trump’s comment on race just verbal shrapnel?

If it was, and it happened to hit Trump, I have no sympathy for him. If his brutal display of rude, crude, and decidedly unpresidential bullying backfired on him, it’s exactly what he deserved.

When moderator Chris Wallace asked him to tell the Proud Boys white racist group to “stand down,” Trump got he first word right — stand. But he changed the phrase. And the meaning changes drastically depending on what word comes next.

“Stand down,” means to stop fighting or menacing someone. “Stand aside,” means to get out of someone’s way. “Stand back” is generally either a warning (stand back because you might get hurt) or an invitation (stand back and watch this!). “Stand by” is an instruction to wait for something that’s coming next: TV stations used to say “please stand by” when broadcasts were interrupted. Or, “stand by” can be a cue to wait for further instructions.

The only way Trump could have made it worse would have been if he’d said “stand up” or “stand strong.”

History and context

Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s press secretary-turned-critic, suggested that Trump said what he did on purpose — that he was trying to denounce the Proud Boys while, at the same time, giving them a sly wink via ambiguity. If that’s what he was trying to do, it was clumsy as hell, and he should’ve known he wouldn’t get away with it.

The next day, some in the media said Trump had missed a chance to set the record straight by stating unequivocally that he wasn’t a racist or race-baiter.

To use one of Biden’s favorite terms, that’s a bunch of malarky.

Should Trump denounce white racism in no uncertain terms? Of course he should. If he did, would such a denunciation convince anyone he’s all for racial justice and equality? Again, as Biden might say, “C’mon, man.”

In the end, it doesn’t matter whether Trump misspoke or not. Even if it was just a verbal flub, it was consistent with everything he’s said and done before:

The “fine people on both sides” comment after the Charlottesville violence in 2017.

The reference to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries.”

His descriptions and treatment of immigrants — that they’re “drug dealers, criminals (and) rapists” that should be put in cages and separated from their families.

The 1972 housing discrimination case against him.

His “birther” attacks on Barack Obama, starting in 2011.

The list goes on and on.

The plain truth is, Trump had dug his own grave on race long before Tuesday’s debate, and nothing he said that night would have (or should have) changed anything. All he did with his “stand back and stand by” comment was open up the coffin and give us another look at the moldering corpse inside.

Whether he did it accidentally or on purpose is beside the point.

More than words

The reasons go beyond Trump’s record of racism. Communication is about much more than words. It’s about tone and emphasis. Regardless of whether he misspoke or not, Trump’s tone in addressing Wallace’s question was dismissive, and he quickly pivoted away from it to emphasize his grievances against “antifa and the left” and his contention that “this is not a right-wing problem.”

(This happened, literally, on the very same day the FBI released a report detailing a “violent extremist threat” posed by a far-right militia group.)

Even so, he repeated this false assertion the following day, saying “the problem is on the left,” even as he edited his words to say “stand down” (twice).

So, is it possible that Trump simply misspoke during the debate?

The answer is yes.

Does it matter?

Emphatically, the answer is no.

He had his chance not to condone or engage in racist behavior in 1972, in 2011, in 2017, and at numerous other points along the way. Nothing he could have said during Tuesday’s debate could have changes any of that. He would have just been putting lipstick on a pig.