President Donald Trump appears convinced that the best way to respond to an American crisis is via an inane rant on Twitter. As intense protests in Minneapolis and elsewhere continued this week following the police murder of black man George Floyd, Trump rushed to Twitter with his thoughts about the situation. Early Saturday morning, he complained about Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) in particular, who Trump acted like was personally responsible for the unrest in his city. Trump bizarrely complained that Frey — a duly elected political leader of a major city — wasn’t acting more like a military general, as if Trump imagines that the U.S. is either a police state or should be.
Minneapolis, people are exploiting our grief and destroying our city.
The fires in area in Minneapolis where no protest took place gives us a clearer picture of that.
We can’t let them. We must all come together to clean up our city and protect one another. https://t.co/lCe8P8Pcfs
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 30, 2020
Trump tweeted:
‘Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis will never be mistaken for the late, great General Douglas McArthur or great fighter General George Patton. How come all of these places that defend so poorly are run by Liberal Democrats? Get tough and fight (and arrest the bad ones). STRENGTH!’
Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis will never be mistaken for the late, great General Douglas McArthur or great fighter General George Patton. How come all of these places that defend so poorly are run by Liberal Democrats? Get tough and fight (and arrest the bad ones). STRENGTH!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020
Why on earth would Frey want to be compared to either Douglas MacArthur or George Patton? Does Trump imagine that the ideal for a political leader in the United States is to act as though they’re leading an army against their opponents? That’s not how democracy works in the United States. What does Trump imagine that Frey should do — go and stand on the street corner and hold up a printout of the president’s tweet? The mayor could say — “hello protesters, Trump has written the word strength in all capital letters on Twitter, so here I am — STRENGTH!” The president appears to think he sounds credibly tough, but he just sounds like a buffoon with uselessly inane so-called suggestions.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz: “Let's be very clear. The situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd. It is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities.” https://t.co/a9S9a49kht pic.twitter.com/ZnTEXcmeeu
— CNN (@CNN) May 30, 2020
Meanwhile, actually competent leaders — like Mayor Frey — are continuing to deal with the situation. On Saturday, he and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) discussed how outside agitators had apparently begun to infiltrate local demonstrations, and the authorities had plans to arrest people who were leading that charge.
Frey: If you have family of friends who are considering protesting… This is no longer about protesting. Says violence caused by outsiders must stop. He echoes Walz in citing concerns about pandemic still happening.
— Torey Van Oot (@toreyvanoot) May 30, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response to Trump below:
