Daily US Times: A serious divide has emerged among Donald Trump’s top advisers and allies over how the President should address several nights of protests and riots across the nation following the death of George Floyd. Some advisers urged Trump to formally address the nation and call for calm, while others have said he should condemn the looting and rioting more forcefully or risk losing middle-of-the-road voters in November, according to several sources familiar with the deliberations.
The President has adopted an uneven message on the demonstrations. While in some appearances he has taken a measured approach in calling for calm, on Twitter he has used violent rhetoric and seemed to suggest Saturday his supporters stage a counter-protest outside the White House.
Over the weekend, some aides sought to convince Trump against using unpresidential and violent rhetoric after he wrote on Twitter that “when the looting starts the shooting starts”. They warned language like that could inflame an already combustible situation and this would not appear presidential.
On Friday during a staff call, Brooke Rollins, one of Trump’s top domestic policy aide argued for a measured response to riots the night before, advice that was suggested by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Several advisers feared and hoped to avoid another Charlottesville moment when Trump was criticized after declaring in 2017 that “very fine people” were among the Nazi mobs that descended upon Charlottesville, Virginia.
The President blamed the conflicts on “many sides”, when he made his first vague statement on that violence.
Trump, who believes his law and order stance helped get him elected, wasn’t immediately receptive to those concerns over the last several days about what’s currently happening in the nation.
Despite the earlier encouragement from his advisers to tone down his language, Trump had revived some of the violent imagery in the next day by evoking dogs and weaponry at the ready inside the White House gates. But the President later tried to downplay his message about using armed force on looters as a statement rather than a threat.
While aides like Kushner have pushed for a more restrained response, Trump is also hearing from several advisers who warned that by not condemning the protests after the death of Floyd, that turned into looting and rioting, he is risking losing some demographics that will be key to his next election victory in, like suburban women voters.
A Fox News host on Sunday called for Trump to address the nation.
Griff Jenkins said he really believed it is time for President Trump to do an Oval Office address.
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