Trump Says He Does Not Support Mayors Reallocating Police Funding
President Donald Trump and the White House do not support mayors reallocating police funding to other programs, said a spokesperson and the president on Monday.
“There wont be defunding. There wont be dismantling of our police. Theres not going to be any disbanding of our police,” Trump said, adding that police have “been letting us live in peace and we want to make sure we dont have any bad actors in there.”
In the wake of George Floyds death while in police custody in Minneapolis, protests have erupted across the United States in dozens of cities and towns. Some of the protests turned violent as demonstrators clashed with police, while others set fire to buildings, looted businesses, and committed acts of vandalism. For the past several days, however, the protests have been mostly peaceful.
Trump noted that after Floyds death, “sometimes well see some horrible things like we witnessed recently but I say 99.9 – lets go with 99 percent of them – great, great people and theyve done jobs that are record-setting.”
During the protests, some city officials have said the would defund or even abolish the police. Among them is New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, who said on Sunday that the city will move some of its funding from the New York Police Department to social services, while the City Council of Minneapolis said it will abolish its police department but didnt offer many details.
“These will be the first of many steps my Administration will take over the next 18 months to rebuild a fairer city that profoundly addresses injustice and disparity,” de Blasio said in a statement about the move.
Trump, meanwhile, has cast himself as the “law and order” candidate in the wake of the riots and calls for police reforms, likely setting up a potential campaign strategy to tie Democrats and Joe Biden to the “defund the police” mantra ahead of Novembers elections. Activists said they support demilitarizing and cutting funds for police departments and reallocating the money to housing and mental health services.
“Lets see here. The Mayor of L.A. wants to defund police, take money away from police. Mayor DeBlasio wants to take money away from the police,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a Monday news conference.
“That means cutting of poliRead More From Source
