Of course Trump refused to condemn his white supremacists followers. Chris Wallace should've been ready for that.

• During the first presidential debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump to condemn his white supremacist voters.
• Trump refused to do so emphatically, and even told a white supremacist gang called "The Proud Boys" to "stand by."
• While Trump's response was both disgusting and unsurprising, Wallace also failed to pursue the line of questioning, which played right into the hands of white supremacist Trump supporters.
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.

The first presidential debate wasn't really a debate at all. I'm not quite sure how else a face-to-face televised argument between two "tough guy" 70-somethings was supposed to go, but I couldn't have imagined this. We seem lost in the moment now, but close your eyes and imagine for a second: the former vice president of the United States called the current president of the United States a "clown" and told him to "shut up" on live television.

You'd be forgiven if you missed that moment, since it was in the middle of incessant interruptions by both parties. But there was a third voice clamoring for attention: Chris Wallace's, the night's moderator.

Wallace, famous for being the middle-of-the-road personality at Fox News, admittedly had a tough job to do. Trump's whole personality is his abrasive callousness, and it's a tall order to try and tame that. Naturally, Trump walked all over him. Wallace sounded like a teen trying to get his soon-to-be divorced parents to stop arguing, and it fueled the headaches of potentially millions of Americans.

But there was one moment in a night of chaos that stuck out. It not only was the lowest and grossest moment for Trump, but it also was Wallace's most damning mistake.

Marching orders

About midway through the debate, Chris Wallace asked President Trump to emphatically denounce his supporters who are white supremacists. Trump hesitated and stammered a non-answer before asking Wallace who exactly he was referring to.

Joe Biden answered "The Proud Boys," which is surprisingly not the name of an after-school acapella group. In reality, they're a white supremacist gang that's been seeking out violence in cities that have been undergoing anti-police brutality protests.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Proud Boys are known for their anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, and misogynist rhetoric, and appeared alongside other extremist groups during "Unite the Right" protests in Charlottesville, which resulted in the murder of Heather Heyer. Their founder, VICE media co-founder Gavin McIness, has brazenly talked about their mission to violently attack their opponents, and once created a video titled "10 things I hate about Jews."

In response to Biden's mention of The Proud Boys, Trump told The Proud Boys to "stand back" and "stand by." This is not a condemnation.

Of course, Trump would never condemn a potential voter. It's why he called neo-Nazis at that same Charlottesville rally "very fine people" in 2017. He knows that white supremacists adore him and are looking for any reason to drum up their support. Whether or not he actually believes white supremacists are evil, he speaks strategically so as not to lose their vote. A full-throated condemnation of white supremacy by Trump wouldn't stop the sick philosophy in its tracks, but Trump's actions mean that the mechanisms of white supremacy remain well-oiled.

But while the mealy-mouth non-rejection on white supremacists was not a surprising pivot from Trump, Wallace didn't press for more information on the spot. That was a failure.

The smart, responsible thing for a moderator to do in that instance is follow up. Make sure Trump means what he says. Make him repeat it, or at least make him condemn white supremacists, which was the original purpose of the question. Instead, Wallace allowed Trump and Biden to spar for a bit — with the president trying to distract with talk of "antifa" — before he moved on.

But something as big as the president failing to forcefully condemn white supremacist groups is not something you should pivot away from after a minute and a half of back-and-forth.

Wallace's failure to follow up on Trump's "stand by" comment means that The Proud Boys, like any other political group, can spin the president's words in their favor. They've already been cheering on the interaction, and have created pro-Proud Boys media referencing it. They believe they got a co-sign from the president of the United States, and are going to use it to recruit more people into their ranks.

The reason Chris Wallace's performance was such a failure is because Trump is hardly blowing a dog whistle. He's not delivering coded language that only a particular group can understand. He told a white supremacist gang to stand by for orders. It's clear as day, and something a journalist should be able to pounce on, let alone someone of Chris Wallace's expertise and stature.

Journalists, moderators, and pundits alike would do well to call out Trump's actions and make it unequivocally clear: Trump is deliberately appealing to the white supremacists.