“The more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who’s best on public safety and law and order.”
— Kellyanne Conway, making the case on Fox News that the killings of peaceful protesters will benefit President Trump politically.
A RNC video showing rioters setting a city street on fire in “Biden’s America” is actually a photo from Barcelona, Spain, BuzzFeed News reports.
The video was intended to be a warning of the dire consequences if Biden is elected president.
BuzzFeed News: “The law enforcement–obsessed 17-year-old who was charged with shooting and killing two people and injuring another in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests for Jacob Blake appeared in the front row at a Donald Trump rally in January.”
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The International Association of Chiefs of Police “asked for each candidate’s views on nine specific areas of crime or other issues that impact law enforcement, and the solutions they planned to provide. The chiefs asked how they would address violent crime, violence against women, hate crimes, homegrown violent extremism, opioid abuse and traffic safety,” the Washington Post reports.
“Biden’s response on the nine issues stretched over four pages, calling for assault weapons bans, massive investment in drug treatment programs and investing $300 million in the COPS program to hire more officers and deputies.”
“Trump did not respond to the nine issues and provided no explanation.”
U.S. federal prosecutors have produced no evidence linking dozens of people arrested in anti-racism protests in Portland, Oregon, to the antifa or anarchist movements, despite President Trump’s assertions they are fueling the unrest, Reuters reports.
Newly obtained body-cam footage from two of the police officers charged in George Floyd’s death reveal more details of the horrific arrest that led to his death, the Daily Mail reports.
The video shows Floyd’s horror when one officer points a gun at his head as he begs not to be shot. The video also shows Floyd asking for compassion.
“For decades, conservative activists and leaders have warned that ‘jackbooted thugs’ from the federal government were going to come to take away Americans’ civil rights with no due process and no recourse. Now they’re here—but they’re deployed by a staunchly right-wing president with strong conservative support,” The Atlantic reports.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) voiced opposition to President Trump’s efforts to send federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-controlled cities.
Said Paul: “We cannot give up liberty for security. Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will.”
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds Joe Biden leading Donald Trump on the issue of “crime and safety” by nine points, 50% to 41%.
Aaron Blake: “The finding echoes what we’ve seen from other pollsters. A Pew Research Center poll from mid-June showed Biden led Trump 46% to 43% on which candidate could ‘effectively handle law enforcement and criminal justice issues.’ A Kaiser Family Foundation poll from late June directly employed the ‘law and order’ phrasing, finding voters trusted Biden to handle maintaining it by a 51-41 margin — virtually identical to the Post-ABC poll.”
“To the extent that there is a law-and-order candidate at this point, it appears to be Biden.”
Earlier for members: Trump Doubles-Down on ‘Law and Order’ Message
The U.S. attorney in Oregon wants an investigation into “constitutionally questionable arrests in Portland” by officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
CNN: “Floyd sobbed as officers initially began pulling him from the vehicle he was in, and at one point officer Derek Chauvin appears to lean into pressure applied to Floyd’s neck. Floyd’s last words, which were not seen in a previously released transcript, were, ‘I can’t breathe.’”
President Trump told CBS News the killing of George Floyd was “terrible” but appeared to bristle when asked why Black Americans are “still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country.”
Said Trump: “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.”
He also said the Confederate flag was a freedom of speech issue: “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.”
“The first execution to be carried out by the federal government in more than 17 years appeared to be nearing again Tuesday after a sharply-divided Supreme Court stepped in during the overnight hours to clear away a lower court injunction that blocked the Trump administration’s plan,” Politico reports.
“Just after 2 A.M. Tuesday, the justices issued a 5-4 decision overturning a lower-court order issued on Monday that halted the new federal lethal injection protocol on the grounds that it posed an unacceptable risk that the condemned prisoners would suffer severe pain or distress.”
“The first planned federal execution in 17 years is that of a convicted killer whose victims’ relatives have told President Trump that putting him to death would only compound their grief and have asked a federal judge to halt it,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
This is interesting from the new Monmouth poll: Just 18% of voters think “defund the police” means “get rid of the police,” while 77% believe it means a call to action to change the way police operate.
As Dave Weigel notes, the latest wave of Trump campaign ads portrays “Biden’s America” as one without any police.
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions referred to Henry Louis Gates Jr., a celebrated Black Harvard University scholar, as “some criminal” in the New York Times Magazine.
CNN notes Gates had been wrongfully arrested by a police officer in 2009 as he tried to enter his own home. After the incident, then-President Barack Obama invited Gates and the arresting officer to the White House for a “beer summit.”
Said Sessions: “The police had been demoralized. There was all the Obama — there’s a riot, and he has a beer at the White House with some criminal, to listen to him.”
“President Trump returned from his Virginia golf course Saturday afternoon and turned his Twitter feed into a crime blotter,” the Washington Post reports.
“In less than five minutes, the president posted 15 fliers from the United States Park Police to his 82.6 million followers, complete with grainy photos of Americans suspected of vandalism at Lafayette Square. The images hearkened to the kinds of posters one would see on the wall of a local post office.”
“The president’s messages about protesters and vandals have continued apace, often in the early hours of the morning or the late hours of the evening when he is not surrounded by aides, but sometimes in interviews and executive orders.”
“Three members of a North Carolina police department have been fired after a department audit of a video recording captured one of the officers saying a civil war was necessary to wipe Black people off the map and that he was ready,” the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
One officer said he was going to buy a new assault rifle, and soon “we are just going to go out and start slaughtering them (expletive)” Blacks. “I can’t wait. God, I can’t wait.”
He added that he felt a civil war was needed to “wipe them off the (expletive) map. That’ll put them back about four or five generations.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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