Saturday, June 13, 2020

He tried, he lost

Donald Trump has postponed his planned election rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma – the scene of one of the worst race massacres in US history – amid outcry over its clash with the Juneteenth holiday marking the end of US slavery.

The gathering – which had also caused alarm among health officials tackling the coronavirus pandemic – was to be held on 19 June, the anniversary of the day in 1865 when a general read out Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation in Texas, freeing slaves in the last un-emancipated state.

[...]

The Trump campaign was aware that the date for the president’s return to rallies was Juneteenth, according to two campaign officials, who were not authorised to speak publicly about internal discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity.

[...]

On Friday night, the US president reversed his decision to hold a rally then as a “celebration” of that day, pushing it back one day to “honour requests” from the African American community.

  Guardian
"Requests". If he gets four more years, he won't be concerned about public backlash and bad press.
The change came as Trump further stoked controversy over race issues and policing by saying that chokeholds sounded “so innocent and so perfect”, and once again claimed he has been the best president for black Americans – only partially conceding that Abraham Lincoln may have surpassed him.

Trump said he would like to see a ban on chokeholds in most instances, but suggested their use would be understandable in some situations, such as the current protests. “I don’t like chokeholds ... [but] sometimes, if you’re alone and you’re fighting someone, it’s tough,” he said in an interview with Fox News on Friday.

“You saw some very good people protesting, but you saw some bad people also,” Trump said. “And you get somebody in a chokehold. What are you going to do now? Let go and say, ‘Oh, let’s start all over again’?”
JFC. The officers using a chokehold are not alone, and they don't have to "get somebody in a chokehold."

UPDATE:


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