President Trump will highlight the positive actions of police nationwide on Monday, building on his law-and-order campaign theme amid a push by liberals to defund police departments.
“Never in history have Police been treated so badly as they are in Democrat run cities – and these cities are a mess,” Mr. Trump tweeted Monday. “Police must take a stronger stand with the Radical Left politicians that are treating them so badly, and so disrespectfully!!!”
The president is hosting a roundtable at the White House on Monday afternoon to highlight examples of people who’ve been helped by police officers. Since the May 25th death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, demonstrators have taken to the streets in cities across the U.S. to protest racial injustice.
Last week, Vice President Mike Pence headlined a “back the blue” rally with police officers in Philadelphia. The Trump campaign is portraying Democrat Joseph R. Biden as willing to go along with efforts to cut police funding.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has called attention to a Rasmussen poll last week showing that 64% of Americans are concerned about the growing criticism of America’s police, “and that it will lead to a shortage of police officers and reduced public safety.”
“Of all of the demographics polled, black Americans fear most for public safety, with 67%acknowledging their concern for this,” she said. “And this is why President Trump has taken action, calling strongly for law and order, and peace in our streets, and he’s set the tone at the top for mayors and governors.”
The Rasmussen poll found that Americans continue to give high praise to their local police, but they’re more critical of police-involved killings since the death of Floyd.
In the poll, 27% of Americans now believe that most deaths that involve the police are the fault of the police officer, up from 13% last year and a new high.
The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted on June 1-2, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
