In a White House interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Donald Trump referred to the murder of George Floyd as “terrible” but would not fully accept that there is an issue with law enforcement killing black people at alarming rates.
When asked why Black Americans are “still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country,” Trump unsurprisingly told CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge, “So are White people. So are White people. What a terrible question to ask. So are White people. More White people, by the way. More White people.”
Had the orange-complexioned commander-in-chief paid much attention to statistics, he would be familiar with a study conducted by Harvard researchers published in late June which found that while the number of White people killed by the police between 2013 and 2017 was higher than any other demographic, this was due to the fact that White citizens constitute a larger portion of the population than Blacks. The study concluded that Black Americans were still three times more likely to be murdered by police.
His irresponsible comments follow weeks of protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, who was brutally killed on film when a white police officer held his knee to the man’s neck.
Elsewhere in the interview, the reality star claimed that his defense of the Confederate flag and statues of Confederate officials stems from his strong beliefs in freedom of speech, despite these figures being a statement of white supremacy that has long plagued the country.
“All I say is freedom of speech. It’s very simple. My attitude is freedom of speech—very strong views on the Confederate flag. With me, it’s freedom of speech. Very simple. Like it, don’t like it, it’s freedom of speech,” Trump stated.
The admirably poised Herridge also asked if Trump would be “comfortable” with his supporters displaying the Confederate flag during his campaign events. He replied, “You know, it depends on what your definition is. But I am comfortable with freedom of speech. It’s very simple.”
She continued to press the toupee-sporting president on if he had a clear understanding of “why the flag is a painful symbol for many people because it’s a reminder of slavery.” But once again, he refused to state that the flag is indeed a symbol of hate.
“Well, people love it, and I don’t view — I know people that like the Confederate flag, and they’re not thinking about slavery. I look at NASCAR — you go to NASCAR, you had those flags all over the place. They stopped it,” He said, in reference to the company’s decision to ban the Confederate flag from its events.
“I just think it’s freedom of speech, whether it’s freedom of speech, whether it’s Confederate flags or Black Lives Matter or anything else you want to talk about. It’s freedom of speech.”
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