Associated Press
President Donald Trump on Monday derided the nation’s governors as “weak” and demanded tougher crackdowns on protesters in the aftermath of another night of violent protests in dozens of American cities.
Trump spoke to governors on a video teleconference with law enforcement and national security officials, telling the local leaders they “have to get much tougher” amid nationwide protests and criticizing their responses.
“Most of you are weak,” Trump said. “You have to arrest people.”
The days of protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer. They turned violent in several cities, with looting and mayhem, and fires ignited in the historic park across from the White House.
The president urged the governors to deploy the National Guard, which he credited for helping calm the situation Sunday night in Minneapolis. He demanded that similarly tough measures be taken in cities that also experienced a spasm of violence, like New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
“You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again,” said Trump. “We’re doing it in Washington, D.C. We’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before.”
The president told the governors they were making themselves “look like fools” for not calling up more of the National Guard as a show for force on city streets.
Attorney General Bill Barr, who was also on the call, told governors that a joint terrorist task force would be used to track the agitators and urged local officials to “dominate” the streets and control, not react to crowds, and urged them to “go after troublemakers.”
Trump’s angry exhortations at the nation’s governors came after a night of escalating violence, images of fires and looting and clashes with police filling the nation’s airwaves and overshadowing the largely peaceful protests. The protests grew so heated Friday night that the Secret Service rushed the president to an underground bunker previously used during terrorist attacks.
Trump continued his effort to project strength, using a series of inflammatory tweets and delivering partisan attacks during a time of national crisis.
As cities burned night after night and images of violence dominated television coverage, Trump’s advisers discussed the prospect of an Oval Office address in an attempt to ease tensions. The notion was quickly scrapped for lack of policy proposals and the president’s own seeming disinterest in delivering a message of unity.
Trump did not appear in public on Sunday and was not scheduled to so Monday either.
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Republished with permission from The Associated Press.
16 comments
Terrance Bees
June 1, 2020 at 12:34 pm
His remarks demonstrates how weak he is. Sad.
gary
June 1, 2020 at 1:42 pm
The only president in my 56 year lifetime to stand up to China, the UN, Iran, and the WHO! Real wimp he is! You demoRATS are retarded!
Cal
June 1, 2020 at 2:50 pm
Those are LIES. And I noticed you didn’t–and couldn’t–include RUSSIA in that 56 year assessment of the nations Trump allegedly stood up to.
Of course, its pretty hard to stand up to Putin when you’ve spent your entire term in office kissing his ass.
And exactly how did he stand up to North Korea? They are still conducting nuclear tests. And Iran BOMBED U.S. soldiers a few months ago, remember?
TED KRUZE
June 1, 2020 at 12:39 pm
*-S-S-H-O-L-E!
GARY
June 1, 2020 at 1:43 pm
Are you 10 years old?
Tjb
June 1, 2020 at 4:41 pm
Hey Gary. You forgot to call Ted a demoRATS. But I think Ted is correct in his assessment of Trump.
Tjb
June 1, 2020 at 12:44 pm
Trump’s remarks only demonstrates his weakness as a leader.
gary
June 1, 2020 at 1:47 pm
How is that? What did Obumbles do during his administration riots/protests? Let me remind you… He told them he understands and proceeded to get 9 police officers killed! He was also so week, that he paid Iran billions to not act up while he was president! He was so week, he went around the world apologizing to foreign leaders about America while bending over in their presence! TRUMP IS A LOT OF THINGS…. BUT WEAK! HELL NO!
Nick Cole
June 1, 2020 at 2:59 pm
Dodging military service for spurious medical reasons qualifies as weak in my book pal.
And he’s also weak because, as Hillary famously said, he’s a puppet for Putin.
There’s no comparison between Obama and Trump. One is intelligent, forthright, and a statesman. A true leader who lead us out of recession.
The other is a corrupt buffoon who was impeached.
Speaking of lives, Trump told us coronavirus would go away like a “miracle”.
This is before, of course, he told folks to take hydroxychloroquine, a drug now proven to have potentially deadly side effects.
Joe Biden 2020.
Bartholomew
June 1, 2020 at 12:46 pm
He is definately not going to get out in front of this one. Such a cowardly, moraless person! And he is supported by what group of christians and party?
gary
June 1, 2020 at 1:50 pm
How exactly is he supposed to get out in front of this one???????? The states are independent and self governed. He can direct certain assets, including money, but the Constitution is very clear on this issue moron!
NoMoTrump
June 1, 2020 at 12:49 pm
Bullies are always weak cowards. He’s the 400 pound bully tweeting from his
mother’s basement. Amazing that we still have to endure this after three and a half years of incompetence culminating in the perfect storm of crises.
gary
June 1, 2020 at 1:54 pm
DemoRATS are always rudderless and sissies about everything except getting people killed! The so called trigger for this nonsense took place in a well established demoRAT ran city and state! Every state and city on fire now are ran by…. you guessed it! DEMORATS! PATHETIC DUMMY!
Ocean Joe
June 1, 2020 at 3:05 pm
Just to let you know Miami is run by Republicans. Jacksonville, Republicans. There’s plenty of trouble to go around and if we run out, count on Mr. Trump to stir up more. As for getting people killed: W refused to take intelligence warnings seriously before 9-11, and launched the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Trump refused to take intelligence warnings about COVID-19 serious, more dead than Gettysburg. With rudders like Trump and W steering the boat I suggest you put on a dress and head for the lifeboats.
Melanie
June 1, 2020 at 3:07 pm
You are speaking in absurd terms. Republican ran cities tend to be in rural areas; Democrats tend to manage urban areas. That is merely a matter or political sociology.
I’v been longing for the days of Barack Obama, who led us out of the Great Recession and who worked tirelessly to provide healthcare for Americans everywhere.
Its a stark contrast to the grossly overweight, ignorant PIG I’ll be voting against in November.
Sonja Fitch
June 1, 2020 at 3:18 pm
Bone spur coward is full of stupid!!! You gotta to be just as stupid now to still believe this paranoid delusional trump! God have mercy on you!
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