“When the Looting Starts, the Shooting Starts”

May 28: On This Day In 2020

Here was President Trump’s chance to be a normal president. When the Minneapolis police killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nine minutes, twenty-nine seconds, the flame of outrage was lit nationwide. Historically, American presidents have responded to national trauma with public messages meant to soothe and unite.

But that’s not Trump’s style. The president instead responded to the national agony OTDI 2020 by tweeting…this: Minneapolis has “a total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.”

He continued on another tweet: “… Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that (if there’s any difficulty) the Military… will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Then, oddly enough, he closed with a polite “Thank you!”

Malice toward all: With Union victory in the Civil War all but certain, President Abraham Lincoln pledged “malice toward none and charity for all.” By comparison, President Donald Trump … oh, it’s pointless to compare the 45th president to the 16th.

Only the beginning: Unfortunately Trump’s use of that historically-racist expression became more than just a right-wing meme: it was enthusiastically acted upon by MAGA fans across the country. In St. Louis, a couple who stood in front of their house pointing guns at George Floyd protestors got invited to speak at the Republican National Convention.

And in Kenosha, after a 17-year old shot two protestors to death there with his AR-15 assault rifle, he was inundated with job offers from admiring Congressional Republicans. And he got to meet President Trump, who called him “a really nice young man.” Not to be outdone, some MAGA faithful in the House even tried to award him a Congressional Gold Medal.

 Dive Deeper

• The updated timing of the death kneel

• Trump’s inflammatory tweets and poetry   (Note: You’ll have to click to “learn more” because Twitter had to hide our president’s words glorifying violence)

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Summary: When Trump says “When the Looting Starts, the Shooting Starts”, his followers pay attention