Posted on 06/08/2020 1:55:31 PM PDT by robowombat
Trump: There won't be any defunding of police BY BRETT SAMUELS - 06/08/20 03:51 PM EDT
President Trump and his allies on Monday lashed out at activists and some Democrats for their support of the "defund the police" movement, seeking to draw a contrast with the administration's embrace of law enforcement amid nationwide protests.
White House aides and campaign officials sought to tie Democrats to the mantra of "defund the police," which has gained steam on social media and at some protests after George Floyd's death May 25.
"There won’t be defunding. There won’t be dismantling of our police, and there’s not going to be any disbanding of our police. Our police have been letting us live in peace, and we want to make sure we don’t have any bad actors in there," Trump said during a meeting with law enforcement officers and police chiefs at the White House, adding that he believes "99 percent" of officers are "great people."
Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters at an earlier briefing that "the president is appalled by the defund the police movement," singling out pledges from the mayors of Los Angeles and New York City to cut police budgets.
"That means cutting of police. That means reducing police departments. That means defunding police departments, if not getting rid of them entirely," she said. "No, [Trump] doesn’t agree with that."
Trump has harped on the topic in the past 48 hours, seeking to paint himself as the candidate of "law and order."
"Sleepy Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats want to 'DEFUND THE POLICE'. I want great and well paid LAW ENFORCEMENT. I want LAW & ORDER!" Trump tweeted Sunday.
"Defund the police" has become a common refrain among protesters across the country in the last two weeks. Activists say they support demilitarizing and cutting funds for police departments and reallocating money to other services such as affordable housing and mental health. Some more liberal lawmakers and organizers are in favor of disbanding police departments in their current form altogether.
In Minneapolis, where a white officer has been charged with second-degree murder in Floyd's killing, city councilors pledged to dismantle the police department in favor of a new law enforcement system.
The movement has given Trump and his allies an opening to attack Democrats after weeks of difficult headlines for the president over his handling of the demonstrations after Floyd's death.
McEnany likened the push to the "abolish ICE" movement in 2018 that many Democrats backed in an effort to slash funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy that led to the separation of migrant families. That movement, while endorsed by some prominent Democrats, did not garner support from the majority of the party.
Prominent Democrats have similarly distanced themselves from the "defund the police" push, either deferring to local leaders who determine law enforcement funding or signaling they prefer reforming policing practices over slashing funding.
Democrats in both chambers introduced sweeping reforms on Monday designed to combat racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Crafted by leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus, the legislation aims to rein in the use of excessive force, particularly the violence targeting blacks and other minorities.
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, opposes defunding the police, a spokesman for his campaign said Monday.
"He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change, and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain," spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. "Biden supports the urgent need for reform — including funding for public schools, summer programs, and mental health and substance abuse treatment separate from funding for policing — so that officers can focus on the job of policing."
The Trump campaign sought to attack Biden for issuing his opposition through a spokesperson rather than doing so personally.
"Until Americans hear from Joe Biden himself, they have no way of knowing where he really stands," communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement.
The White House has offered no specifics of its own for policing reforms it would support. McEnany said Trump had not reviewed the legislation unveiled Monday, but called the proposal to reduce immunity for police officers a "non-starter."
Bongino: Defunding police 'single most catastrophic, deadly public... Trump campaign accuses Biden of 'endorsing' cuts to law enforcement Trump has courted the support of law enforcement throughout his presidency, speaking at gatherings of officers and police chiefs on multiple occasions. In his public remarks following Floyd's killing, he has called the case a "disgrace" but focused mostly on the need for law and order and called for a crackdown on unruly protesters.
But he has stepped on his own message with controversial statements, tweeting that protesters were "thugs" and "hoodlums" and warning that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," a refrain used by a Miami police chief in the 1960s to target black civil rights protesters.
—Updated at 4:13 p.m.
Everyone should pay for their own protection. That is capitalism.
“Trump plays these moronic dipshits like a fiddle.....LOL”
While you speak logically, I’m not sure that is how the populace is played by the media elites. (born as liberals with a silver spoon, IVY league education, intent on destroying freedom and free expression, and the USA too for their own financial and politcal benefit). They play many of us as just dip shits without a megaphone.
We need to strategize rather than allowing them to define us.
Bump
Bold colors folks. Trump has drawn a contrast and forced the Democrats to own their losing issue.
You just have to have a few atrocities committed by criminals in areas where the police have been defunded, and insert those stories into campaign ads, like Willie Horton. Remember him? Those ads pretty much killed Michael Dukakis’ chances at the White House in 1988.
Americans by and large want their families to be safe in their homes. That’s a huge consideration for me, and I’m guessing for millions of voters. There will be payback at the ballot box for this Democrat folly.
They want to turn this country into a crap hole 3rd world nation. Little do they realize is that police in 3rd world crapholes have no accountability. They really should go live there for a while and see if they return with a different view. (They will return and kiss the ground).
I don’t come here as often these days because this place posts this shit so much.
Sounds like a mafia street tax
Yep. Our local police officers must be feeling pretty rough these days. I may have to send over a few pizza’s to help boost their spirits.
Defund locations should also pass legislation to prevent all renters and property owners from moving.
They want to box him in and force him to pay for a national police, funded by the federal government, with local control. It won’t work..It would turn into the “Brown Shirts” that Hitler used. Maybe that is the plan.
I don't think he has the authority to do anything about this, nor do I think the federal government or administration should.
I think President Trump is simply staking out his position. If the dem state/local governments are stupid enough to defund their own police forces they will face the consequences.
Unfortunately many good, responsible citizens will be harmed along the way.
They want a national police force, paid for by the Fed, but with local control. The problem is that it would turn into Hitler’s “Brown Shirts” as soon as a Democrat were in the Whitehouse.
Trump has them boxed in again.
Defund the police does not poll well.
Let’s see what the dems do.
Exactly what I was getting at. The Mafia started out as, essentially, a zealous neighbourhood-watch program. They arose to fill the vacuum created by the end of feudalism, and the private armies of the nobility, and the beginning of the modern police forces that the rabid leftists now want to defund.
Or it will be the unarmed pawns like England has.
When the Democrats get a good look at the polling data, they will drop this issue like a rock. It’s just unfortunate that they didn’t get more politicians on record saying they support defunding police. It would make an excellent campaign commercial.
Sorry, but this is not DJT’s call. If LOCAL officials choose to defund their LOCAL law enforcement agencies, the Federal Government has NO authority to intervene, apart from, perhaps, intervening with FEDERAL forces to quell violence.
You’re right. Police dept. are a city/state issue.
Right on!
Brett always can be counted on to form the sentences that sound juvenile and jealous, arranged to make President Trump look bad.
He represents the Dims very well.
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