Amid mass protests the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, Trump threatened to deploy the the military to combat “thugs” and remarked, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
The tweet was flagged by Twitter as violating its rules about glorifying violence.
This Tweet violates our policies regarding the glorification of violence based on the historical context of the last line, its connection to violence, and the risk it could inspire similar actions today. https://t.co/sl4wupRfNH
Additionally, the phrase was coined by a notoriously racist Miami police chief in 1967, who also told the press “we don’t mind being accused of police brutality.” Trump’s handling of protests were denounced by former Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
When voting in the 2017 New York City mayoral election, Trump penned the wrong birth date for his ballot. According to the New York Daily News, despite being born on June 14, 1946, his ballot application listed July as his birthday, which could have led it to be considered invalid.
The rest of Trump’s family fared no better with their absentee ballots. Trump’s wife Melania failed to sign her ballot, rendering it invalid. His daughter Ivanka mailed hers too late to be counted. His son-in-law Jared Kushner failed to vote at all.
Donald, Melania, Ivanka, and Jared. AP / Paul Sancya
In a May 2020 meeting with two state governors, Trump threatened to withhold federal election funding for states expanding mail-in voting. He repeated unfounded claims about mail-in voting, and said people should vote in person because to do so is “an honor.”
I think just common sense would tell you that it’s massive manipulation can take place. Massive.
They — and you do; you have cases of fraudulent ballots, where they actually print them and they give them to people sign. Maybe the same person signs them with different writing, different pens. I don’t know. It’s — a lot of things can happen.
No, if you can, you should go and vote. Voting is an honor. It shouldn’t be something where they send you a pile of stuff and you send it back.
Trump also stepped up his attacks on Twitter.
State of Nevada “thinks” that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots, creating a great Voter Fraud scenario for the State and the U.S. They can’t! If they do, “I think” I can hold up funds to the State. Sorry, but you must not cheat in elections. @RussVought45@USTreasury
Despite his multiple claims about mail-in voting being rife with fraud, Trump admitted that he voted by mail, defending it because “he was allowed to.”
President Trump: "I think mail-in voting is horrible, it's corrupt."
Reporter: "You voted by mail in Florida's election last month, didn't you?"
In 2019, Trump updated his voter registration to Florida while listing the White House as his out-of-state address. This is prohibited in Florida, which by law requires that voters be legal residents. Trump re-registered, listing his Mar-a-Lago address instead. Trump used this new registration to vote in Florida’s Republican primary.
However, when Mar-a-Lago was converted from a single-family residence to a private club in 1993, the agreement with the local government prohibited it from bring used or taxed as a residence. Per the stipulations, any visitor was restricted to staying a maximum of 21 days per year, though Trump has repeatedly violated that provision, as well.
Though likely done in error, as are most mail-in voting discrepancies, exactly such an example is cited by the White House as an example of felony voter fraud.
Beyond Trump's dangerous, dishonest claims of widespread voter fraud, it's really rich because the WH website uses the case of someone trying to vote at their second home as an example of voter fraud! https://t.co/syhg4fsehhpic.twitter.com/pEIyXy89Ck
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) June 3, 2020
Vice President Mike Pence also voted by mail using his old Indiana address in the state’s primary election. Because he made no attempt to register in Washington DC, and his Indiana home is a legal residence, there were no questions regarding the legality of his vote. However, his use of a mail-in ballot still undercut the administration’s claims regarding its unreliability. Additionally, Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany regularly voted by mail, but still railed against attempts to expand mail-in voting “for no reason.”
Trump and Melania voting in 2016. Reuters/Carlo Allegri
Trump made the remark during a press conference on May 15, 2020.
And I just want to make something clear. It’s very important: Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back. And we’re starting the process. And in many cases, they don’t have vaccines, and a virus or a flu comes, and you fight through it. We haven’t seen anything like this in 100-and-some-odd years – 1917.
The day of his remark, the United States had nearly 1.5 million total confirmed cases and suffered 89,104 deaths.
On June 5th, a protester was filmed approaching police amid Buffalo protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death. The man, 75-year-old Martin Gugino, was pushed by an officer, and tumbled backwards onto the floor, heading his head with enough force to leave blood.
A Buffalo Police Department statement immediately released afterward appeared to claim that the man, who was the only known injury, had tripped and fallen:
A 5th person was arrested during a skirmish with other protestors and also charged with disorderly conduct. During that skirmish involving protestors, one person was injured when he tripped & fell.
The two officers involved were subsequently suspended, pending an internal investigation.
The following week, Trump took to Twitter to suggest that the protester, still hospitalized and recovering from his injuries, was an Antifa crisis actor, and that the entire thing “could be a set up.”
Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?
In February 2016 during a Las Vegas rally, Trump mocked protesters as they were ejected, and boasted of how he would like to “punch them in the face” while reminiscing of past times when they would’ve had to be “carried out in a stretcher.”
I love the old days, you know. You what I hate, there’s a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches, we’re not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days. You know what they used to do in the old days for guys like that in a place like this? They’d be carried out in a stretcher, folks. That’s true.
You know I love our police, I really respect our police, and they’re not getting enough, they’re not, but, honestly, I hate to see that. Here’s a a guy throwing punches nasty as hell, screaming at everything else when and we’re talking, and he’s walking out and we’re not allowed, you know, the guards are very gentle with him. Like big high-fives, smiling, laughing.
Like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell ya.
Though Trump claimed multiple times that the protester in question was throwing punches of his own, there is no evidence to support it. A security officer present, who asked to remain anonymous, told Politico that Trump “was just over-exaggerating.”
That same month, Trump promised to pay the legal fees for anyone who would “knock the crap out of” protesters, which he later reneged on when a supporter assaulted a protester.
As peaceful protesters were removed from a rally in St. Louis, Missouri, candidate Trump complained about how they were being peacefully ejected, lamenting how there used to be consequences for protest.
Part of the problem and part of the reason it takes so long [to kick them out] is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore. There used to be consequences. There are none anymore.
These people are so bad for our country. You have no idea folks, you have no idea.
The month prior, Trump promised to pay the legal fees for anyone who would “knock the crap out of” protesters, which he later reneged on when a supporter assaulted a protester.
In 2016, candidate Trump promised to pay the legal fees for anyone who would “knock the crap” out of protesters throwing tomatoes. When one of his supporters assaulted a peaceful protester, Trump backtracked, claiming he never made the promise.
If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Okay, just knock the hell – I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees, I promise. I promise.
A week prior at an Iowa rally, a protester had thrown a tomato at Trump, which missed:
Soon after Trump promised to pay legal fees, John McGraw, 78, struck nonviolent protester Rakeem Jones at a North Carolina rally.
Rakeem Jones and John McGraw. Photos by Liz Condo for The Washington Post
Immediately after, an Inside Edition reporter asked McGraw about the act. He replied,
You bet I liked it. Knocking the hell out of that big mouth. We don’t know who he is, but we know he;s not acting like an American….yes we deserved it. The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. We don’t know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization.
McGraw was charged with assault and battery, and called for Trump to own up to his word and pay his legal fees. Trump first said he “instructed my people to look into” the matter during an appearance on Meet the Press, but then later that same week on Good Morning America said,
Somebody asked me the question. And I hadn’t even seen it. So I never said I was going to pay for fees…I don’t condone violence at all. I looked and I watched and I’m going to make a decision, but I certainly don’t condone violence.
9 months after the incident, McGraw pleaded no content in court to assault and disorderly conduct charges. He was sentenced to a suspended 30-day jail sentence and a year on unsupervised probation.
McGraw shook hands with Jones in court, offering an apology which Jones accepted with an embrace.
The video in question was from a Twitter account named Cowboys for Trump. The speaker is an Otero County, New Mexico commissioner named Couy Griffin.
In the video, Griffin states that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat” to applause, then immediately backed away from the violent rhetoric.
I’ve come to a place where I’ve come to the conclusion that the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat. I don’t say that in the physical sense, and I can already see where the videos getting edited where it says I want to go murder Democrats. No. I say that in the political sense because the Democrat agenda and policy is anti-American right now.
The New Mexico Republican Party indirectly addressed the speaker’s comments, which were made a week prior to Trump’s retweet.
The Republican Party of New Mexico wants to state for the record that any statements, whether in jest or serious about harming another individual are just plain wrong.
Griffin has also previously made multiple remarks suggesting violence. He often accused several senior Democrats of treason, which he referred to as “a hanging offense,” and warned of possible Civil War. Many such comments have been in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic, as when Griffin said that mask-wearing requirements might be the core divide.
This might be a lead up to a civil war and maybe one of the uniforms are going to have mask on and the other ones won't.
But we'll tell you this, if we tell you anything, we are going to live free or fight until the end.
