President Trump called the situation in Philadelphia “a mess”. He stated this during a video teleconference on Monday while urging the country’s governors to go aggressively after the protesters who have created unrest in dozens of cities across the country in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man who was being taken into police custody.
“Philadelphia’s a mess. What happened there is horrible,” Trump said. On Sunday, the president tweeted he wanted “Law & Order in Philadelphia, NOW!”
The President’s comment reflects his frustration at the realization that it is not as simple as posting a call for “law and order” on Twitter. The situation in the city is much more complex.
With the same tone of bitter complaint that does little to restore a sense of normality, he referred to Minneapolis
Trump said the “whole world was laughing at Minneapolis over the police station getting burned,” referring to the city where protests began last week.
According to the President, it is all about taking the reins and taming the unrest, otherwise the authorities will look like idiots.
“You have to dominate or you’ll look like a bunch of jerks, you have to arrest and try people,” the president told governors in a call from the basement White House Situation Room.
You can read: Police search for out-of-town instigators of violence in Pennsylvania
The conversation included law enforcement and national security officials. Trump emphasized it was his belief the violence is being brought on by forces from the “radical left”.
“It’s a movement, if you don’t put it down it will get worse and worse,” Trump said. “The only time it’s successful is when you’re weak and most of you are weak.”
The hardline message came as Trump and his advisers were continuing to debate the wisdom of a national address following three nights of violent protests in dozens of cities.