Within minutes of his statement to the press today, Trump insulted Minnesota’s government by saying it “had to get stronger,” blamed a leftist group, Antifa, for the violence, and said the protesters were not honoring George Floyd. What was missing from his comments explains why any sane person, especially people of color, should not vote to re-elect this president. He made mention of the murder of George Floyd as if by just mentioning the name, he would lessen the chances of being referred to as a racist president. No mention was made of the pain the protesters were suffering because of the murder of Floyd and the years of suffering they have endured from the persistent tolerance of racism in America.
His statement was cold and ignorant and added to the many facts about Trump’s past rhetoric, behaviors, and policies that have made many questions whether or not he is actually a racist.Trump’s campaign against the “take the knee” protest by black athletes led by football quarterback Colin Kaepernick was a sign he did not want the attention being brought to the issue of excessive police brutality against black men. Using his branding skills for ill, he was able to deflect from the real point of this act of protest and labeled it Anti-American because it occurred during the playing of the National Anthem. With most of the NFL teams being owned by white millionaire friends of Trump, his campaign against the protest and of Kaepernick worked. He managed to get the activist quarterback black-balled from professional football and diminish the issue of excessive use of force by police against black men.
The murder of George Floyd has brought the topic to the forefront again, and the extreme national protests may be the game-changer that has been needed to force the American government to acknowledge that racism still exists in this country.So far, Trump’s reaction to the tragic murder of George Floyd has continued to put into question if he believes that black lives matter. He has made no statement of disgust or sadness about the death that in any way addresses the murder was committed by a police officer Derek Chauvin. Like much of what Trump says, his words are geared towards not losing supporters. During these racially motivated protests, he is walking the line between showing minimal care or concern for excessive use of force by law enforcement against black men, and not alienating the racist portion of his base. It is a fact that if a count was taken today, reflecting which candidate white supremacists support, Trump would win by a landslide.
If he wants to begin to gain the trust of the black community, he should create a federal task force to deal with pervasive racial inequality and violent practices by law enforcement towards black men. Instead, he will settle on proclaiming, as he did today, the “MAGA people love the blacks,” which was a cringe-worthy, desperate attempt to deflect away from the reality that his base attracts large numbers of white supremacists.Trump uses the strategy of proactive sound-bites to create a sense that he knows what he is talking about and that he tells the truth. This strategy, like many, have become tired reruns of his scripted performances, and polls may be indicating many of his supporters are beginning to tire of the same old, predictable playbook.
As COVID continues to take lives, he has politicized the use of masks to spread his conspiracy theory that Democrats want to scare people about this hoax virus to ruin the economy and his chances for re-election. Here is a message sent from mental health professionals. Anyone who does not believe that 100,000 are dead from COVID-19 and that it is all made up has a diagnosable disorder. Having a president who lies, believes in delusional conspiracy theories, and thrives on dividing people for his own political gain, does not change the reality that truth is truth and facts are facts.The truth of the week is America, and the world watched a white police officer murder a man in the streets of Minneapolis. We watched three other police officers do nothing to stop the murder. There are already signs that the defense of these police officers will be to blame Mr. Floyd’s death on poor health or whatever law he might have broken. The truth is even if his autopsy shows he had coronary artery disease or respiratory issues, he would be alive today if the policeman had not put his knee on his throat and ended his life by physical force. Millions of people live long lives with heart disease and other medical conditions. Still, many of them would also die prematureely, like George Floyd, if their ability to breathe was obstructed.
Many faith leaders are saying the destruction of property and life will not bring George Floyd back. Still, it might obscure the message that the government of the United States to enact policies that end racist practices of any kind towards the black community. Today Trump and AG William Barr avoided the racial issues behind the protests and replaced in with the narrative that the violence is about the leftist extremist’s group, Antifa, using the racial tensions to destroy America. The attempt was a lame, transparent attempt to conflate the Democratic Party with Antifa, which is just another lie to lessen the comparison between a party that is compassionate and the Trump Republican party, which is appearing racist, greedy, and corrupt. Even if they won’t admit it publicly, it is probable that once people find themselves standing in that private voting booth, they are not going to be able to vote for a president who has created a country that looks like nothing GREAT. There is only one way Americans can get back on the path to greatness today, and that is if Trump would resign.
