WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday activated a law allowing him to send military forces to states rocked by unrest over the death of George Floyd in an incredible White House Rose Garden address rocked by violence beyond its walls.
“We cannot allow the righteous cries of peaceful protesters to be drowned out by an angry mob,” Trump said, declaring himself the president of law and order while blaming extremist groups such as Antifa for the unrest.
“I am mobilizing all available federal resources civilian and military to stop rioting and looting to end the destruction,” he said, immediately mobilizing the Insurrection Act of 1807 which allows him to override governors and deploy troops anywhere across the nation."
WASHINGTON — President Trump upbraided several governors in a tense call Monday after days of rioting nationwide amid the marches over the police-custody killing of George Floyd in Minnesota — telling the state leaders they would look like “jerks” if they didn’t come down harder on protesters, according to reports.
The president began the conference call by criticizing governors for their response to the week-long crisis with an angry missive about how they were being soft on demonstrators — many who have co-opted the outcry over Floyd’s death for their own purposes with mass looting and violence possibly prompted by outside organizations.
“You have to dominate,” Trump told state leaders on the call, according to audio obtained by the New York Times.
“If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time — they’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks,” he continued.
“You have to arrest people, and you have to try people, and they have to go to jail for long periods of time,” he said.
The president reportedly clashed with Illinois’ Democratic Governor J.B. Priztker, who confronted Trump about his comments during the crisis.
“I have been extraordinarily concerned with the rhetoric coming out of the White House,” Priztker said, per a Huffington Post report.
“I don’t like your rhetoric either,” Trump responded.