Donald Trump is good at pouring gasoline on a fire then walking away to leave others to clean up the mess. Protests and riots have erupted across the country over the murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers. With a raging pandemic and unemployment gripping the U.S., the last thing this country needed to see was another African-American killed by a cop.
Trump is incapable of deescalating the situation as tensions peak, and instead, the president has publicly exacerbated the environment. Trump had a chance to take command and act as a compassionate leader when he spoke to the brother of George Floyd on Saturday, but he failed at even having a two-way conversation on the phone with Philonise Floyd.
Mr. Floyd told MSNBC’s Al Sharpton that he spoke to the president, but “he [Trump] didn’t give me the opportunity to even speak.”
“It was hard, I was trying to talk to him, but he just kept pushing me off like ‘I don’t want to hear what you are talking about,'” Floyd said. “I just told him I want justice. I said that I can’t believe that they committed a modern-day lynching in broad daylight.”
George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, on his conversation w/ Pres Trump on @MSNBC: “It was so fast. He didn’t give me the opportunity to even speak. It was hard. I was trying to talk to him but he just kept like pushing me off like ‘I don’t want to hear what you’re talking about.'”
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) May 30, 2020
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Floyd also said that he spoke to presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden to ask for justice.
“I never begged for anything before,” Floyd told Sharpton. “I asked the vice president if he could get justice for my brother. I just don’t want to see him on a shirt like those other guys.”
Two men, one is the president who isn’t capable of listening, the other doesn’t lack empathy.
George Floyd’s brother tells @TheRevAl on @MSNBC that he spoke to both @JoeBiden & @realDonaldTrump .
George’s brother said, Joe listened & was very sorry & compassionate.
He said, Trump cut him off, talked over him & didn’t want to hear what he had to say.
— Scotty D (@thedoggeneral1) May 30, 2020
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The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been fired and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. However, three other officers who stood by as Floyd pleaded “I can’t breathe” have also been fired, but not charged.
Trump, in response to the protests outside of the White House on Friday, threatened to have the Secret Service unleash “vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons” on the demonstrators if they “got out of line.” Then, Trump appeared to call for a “MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE” in hopes that the red hats will save him.
All he had to do was listen to George Floyd’s grieving brother for a minute. He failed. Like I said, gasoline on the fire. That’s Donald J. Trump.
Featured image via Political Tribune gallery
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