All Trump Knows is Threaten, Attack & Divide & It's Catching Up to Him Now
It's a bit humorous to hear that some of Trump's advisors are suggesting that the President should tone down his combative rhetoric and address the nation to calm the unrest that was sparked by the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week. Even the reliably pro-Trump commentators on "Fox and Friends" joined the chorus this morning. But, if his Twitter feed is any indication, Trump doesn't seem to be heeding their advice and that's probably just as well, because no one would believe him.
A presidential address would only help calm the situation if Americans thought that Trump had developed some semblance of human empathy and truly intended to work with reformers to address police brutality in many of our cities. But, how likely is that?
Jonathan Chait has a piece in the New Yorker this morning describing Trump's efforts since taking office to roll back Obama's police reforms. He notes that Obama ushered in "one of the most productive periods of criminal justice reform in American history," but that Donald Trump immediately set out to undermine those gains with the support of his Attorney Generals and most members of the Republican Party.
Chait, New Yorker: "The enthusiastic assent of both Sessions and Barr indicates how broadly reflective Trump’s agenda is within his party. Trump’s hatred of criminal justice reform is not just bleating from an old racist who still thinks the Central Park Five were guilty. It is party doctrine."
So, no, don't expect Trump or his Attorney General, William Barr to propose any real reforms. The President is much more comfortable with his racist "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," rhetoric. And he will continue to blame the mythical "ANTIFA organization" for the unrest.
Washington Post: "Asked whether Trump plans to deliver an Oval Office address on the unrest, as a growing number of conservatives are urging, [Press Secretary Kayleigh] McEnany said: “A national Oval Office address is not going to stop antifa. What’s going to stop antifa is action, and this president committed to acting on this.”
When he mentions antifa, Trump wants his Fox News supporters to envisage a re-energized Black Panther Party, armed to the teeth and wearing funny berets. Actually, antifa, which is short for anti-fascist, is more of an ideology than an organization, so hunting them down might be difficult. But perhaps Barr with Rush Limbaugh's assistance can track them to their lair.
The reality, of course, is that Trump has nothing useful to add to the national dialog about race relations in America so giving a national address about the issue would be fruitless and painful to watch. So, he will continue to posture and issue divisive, tough-sounding threats from his White House bunker and hope is just all "goes away"....like the coronavirus.
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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