President Trump says America will be done with “bigotry and prejudice” before we know it.
Trump held a roundtable on police and race in Dallas, but did not invite the city’s top three law enforcement officials – the sheriff, police chief and district attorney who are all black.
Trump held the discussions today after weeks of unrest in the wake of the death George Floyd, whose death while in the custody of Minneapolis police on Memorial Day has galvanized a global movement against racism and police brutality.
The White House defended the decision to snub Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall, Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown and District Attorney John Creuznot by insisting Trump will still hear a diverse opinion, like that of the police chief of Glenn Heights, a small town south of Dallas.
Creuznot hit out at the decision not to invite him, Hall or Brown to the roundtable and told Dallas News: ‘Of course Trump would not be getting the full picture of advice from law enforcement. I don’t know who he’s going to get it from. I mean, we are the people on the ground.’
While Trump has said he sympathizes with peaceful protesters marching after Floyd’s death, Trump has a history of stoking racial animus, including calling some protesters “thugs” and threatening to deploy the military to “dominate” looters.
Today, Trump repeatedly lauded police forces and described those who used excessive force as “bad apples.”
And instead of speaking about police violence against black people, Trump decried officers who are targeted in the line of duty.
He also suggested his attempts at racial reconciliation would go “quickly and easily.”
The roundtable took place at the Gateway Church Dallas Campus, where some audience members sat shoulder-to-shoulder and many did not wear masks — even as Texas has recently reported the highest number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations since the pandemic started.
After the roundtable, Trump attended a $10 million campaign dinner with donors who pay at least $580,600 for each meal and a souvenir photo.
Trump’s visit to the Lone Star State comes as Texas continues to deal with the pandemic.
According to Johns Hopkins University’s tally of cases in the US, there have been more than 80,000 identified coronavirus cases in Texas and more than 1,900 have died from the virus.
And on Wednesday night, the US surpassed 2 million identified coronavirus cases.
Ahead of the Texas visit, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden criticized Trump for his handling of the coronavirus and for “running away” from a meaningful conversation on systemic racism.
“More than 1,800 Texans have died as a result of COVID-19, more than 2.9 million have filed for unemployment, and people around the world are marching against systemic racism in our country,” Biden said in a statement. “For weeks we’ve seen President Trump run away from a meaningful conversation on systemic racism and police brutality. Instead, he’s further divided our country. Today’s trip to Texas won’t change any of that. President Trump is more interested in photo-ops than offering a healing voice as our nation mourns.”