On Tuesday, President Donald Trump held a press conference outside the White House, where he discussed an executive order he was signing in response to recent nationwide protests against police brutality. The executive order doesn’t actually do much. For instance, Trump claimed that under newly encouraged guidelines, officers would be banned from using chokeholds unless their life was at risk — and it’s easy for a cop to claim their life was at risk in just about any circumstance. Towards the conclusion of his initial remarks about the topic of systemic racism and police brutality, Trump went so far off base that he offered an implicit defense of statues around the U.S. honoring Confederate leaders. Could he be any more out of touch?
Things President Trump is against:
– changing Confederate names of U.S. Army bases
– removing Confederate statues and monuments
– athletes silently protesting police brutality and racial injustice
– putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) June 10, 2020
Laughably, in the same remarks, he also praised “cooperation” as if he doesn’t try and upend just about every opportunity for cooperation imaginable. He has barely ever met with Congressional Democrats — and when he has, he’s stormed out and/or launched into ridiculous stream-of-consciousness-style monlogues.
This time, he said:
‘To go forward, we must seek cooperation, not confrontation. We must build upon our heritage, not tear it down, and we must cherish the principles of America’s founding as we strive to deliver safe, beautiful, elegant justice and liberty for all.’
The condemnation of “tearing down” heritage seems to refer to the contentious Confederacy-honoring statues.
Trump closed his speech ostensibly about systemic racism in policing with a subtle defense of the Confederacy, which fought on behalf of slavery: “We must build upon our heritage, not tear it down.” pic.twitter.com/sM2YxmHjdv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 16, 2020
At another point during his Tuesday remarks outside the White House, Trump momentarily claimed that there’s little reason to be concerned about the development of a Coronavirus response because, according to him, the people were working on it who worked on the AIDS vaccine. The problem is — there is not an AIDS vaccine.
"Let's give the dumbest guy our most important job," is what some people thought to themselves four years ago. https://t.co/Lh40hCbAvd
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) June 16, 2020
Trump said:
‘These are the people, the best, the smartest … And they’ve come up with the AIDS vaccine. They’ve come up with— or, the AIDS, and, as you know, there’s various things and now various companies are involved, but the therapeutic for AIDS.’
Again — there is not an AIDS vaccine. Trump seemingly expects us to trust his team’s handling of the Coronavirus, when he can’t even get these basic facts straight.
Trump: "These are the people, the best, the smartest … And they've come up with the AIDS vaccine. They've come up with— or, the AIDS, and, as you know, there's various things and now various companies are involved, but the therapeutic for AIDS."
There is not an AIDS vaccine.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 16, 2020
