President Donald Trump compared some U.S. cities to Afghanistan as he blasted protesters attempting to pull down statues as 'troublemakers' and 'anarchists'. Speaking in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity on Thursday night, the president claimed that living in cities like Chicago, Detroit, Oakland and Baltimore was 'like living in hell' as he called for stop and frisk tactics to be used to cut down crime. 'It’s not a racist statement,' Trump said. 'Black people come up to me and say "thank you".
They want help.' Trump placed the blame with 'Democrat-run' cities where protests against racial injustice are ongoing, saying they 'don't love our country' and are 'taking over'. 'Democrats think it’s wonderful, they’re destroying our the country,' he said of the unrest. Trump took part in the town hall with Fox News in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he was visiting Fincantieri Marinette Marine, a Marinette shipyard, to announce a new contract with the military that he says could create up to 6,000 jobs in the area.
Trump took part in the town hall with Fox News in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he was visiting Fincantieri Marinette Marine, a Marinette shipyard, to announce a new contract with the military that he says could create up to 6,000 jobs in the area.
The president spoke at length about his response to the coronavirus and Black Lives Matter protests as well as discussing John Bolton, Roger Stone and his own run-ins with the press.
He said that 'Chicago is an example, it is worse than Afghanistan' as Hannity pushed the president to speak about the recent calls for law and order and the uptick in violence in Chicago, which on Memorial Day weekend left 10 dead and 39 wounded.
Trump added that Chicago, as well as cities such as Detroit, Oakland and Baltimore are 'worse' than Honduras and Guatemala, who he then praised for working with the U.S. on protecting the border.
Chicago, in particular, has been a target for the president recently after it had its most deadly day in 60 years on May 31, with 18 murders in one day.
It also had the most deadly Memorial Day weekend in years and 191 deaths have been reported in the city so far this year as the result of violence, according to Fox News.
Stop and frisk is needed in those cities, the president claimed, citing the work of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani while he was New York City Mayor.
'It’s very controversial to stay, stop and frisk,' Trump said. 'You take guns away... Rudy Giuliani was a great mayor. He did it in New York.'
Despite Trump's push for greater action, Chicago has seen a declining murder rate in recent years without stop and frisk.
There were 490 murders in 2019 – a 13 per cent drop from the 564 in 2018 and a 35 per cent drop since the 756 in 2016.
Detroit, also mentioned by the president, has seen a 30 per cent increase in homicides as of June 18 with 129 killings, however, and Baltimore has also seen its murder rate rise this year.
Continuing on the topic of the recent civil unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, Trump threatened to intervene in Seattle if authorities did not work to dismantle the autonomous protest zone that has been established there.
'If they don't do something with Seattle, we're going to do that - we're going to go in there,' Trump told host Hannity.
'Because what's happening, they're taking over American cities. In all cases, its Democrats. They’re Democrat-run, in all cases.'
During Hannity's show, the president was heard twice stating that demonstrators who try to topple statues or to tear them down should be hit with a jail sentence of up to ten years, claiming that more than 100 people have been arrested so far.
'If they want to knock down a statue, they get ten years,' he stated, citing the Monuments Act.
His threats came after police clashed with protesters in Washington D.C. Monday night as a demonstration attempted to tear down a statue of President Andrew Jackson close to the White House.
Another group of protesters had vowed to bring down a statue of Abraham Lincoln known as the Emancipation Memorial on Thursday night. 'Andrew Jackson was a very good President, a very good general,' Trump said of the attempts to topple the statue Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment