The half-minute video below, considered worthy of retweeting by the president, was shot by the NY Times' Mike Baker. It shows pro-criminal elements — that is, Trump supporters — firing paintballs and pepper spray on Portland protesters before the lethal shooting of a member of Patriot Prayer, a local far-right gang. The Justice Department estimates around 10,000 MS-13 members, who send Trump into rhetorical fits of high dudgeon, but organized, violent, far-right pro-Trump gangs are just dandy.
As for the president's introductory comments to the video, the Times calls them "a remarkable instance of a president seeming to support confrontation rather than calming a volatile situation." I'd call them, simply, "inciting a riot." In modern political history we've had two "law and order" presidents — and both were titanic crooks.
At a news conference yesterday afternoon, Portland's mayor, Ted Wheeler — whom Trump has so presidentially characterized as "whacky" and a "dummy" — asked "Do you seriously wonder, Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that America has seen this level of violence?" Trump's reply: "He would like to blame me and the Federal Government for going in, but he hasn’t seen anything yet." (My emphasis.) Comforting, is it not?
The big backlash going on in Portland cannot be unexpected after 95 days of watching and incompetent Mayor admit that he has no idea what he is doing. The people of Portland won’t put up with no safety any longer.The Mayor is a FOOL. Bring in the National Guard! https://t.co/bM6ypak94t
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2020
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