Trump to Governors: 'Most of You Are Weak'

He urges them to 'dominate' protesters and make more arrests in conference call
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2020 11:33 AM CDT
Trump to Governors: 'Most of You Are Weak'
President Trump speaks after viewing the SpaceX flight to the International Space Station, at Kennedy Space Center, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Trump doubled down on his tough stance on protesters during a conference call with governors Monday and said they needed to adopt a similar style. “Most of you are weak,” said Trump, as quoted by the AP. “You have to arrest people.” The Washington Post and CNN are among other outlets with similar reports on the president's call about the George Floyd unrest. Some highlights:

  • "You have to dominate or you'll look like a bunch of jerks," Trump told the governors. "If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time."
  • "You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again,” said the president. “We’re doing it in Washington, DC. We’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before."
  • "It's a movement, if you don't put it down it will get worse and worse," he said. "The only time its successful is when you're weak and most of you are weak."
  • He said the "whole world was laughing at Minneapolis over the police station getting burned."
  • He called the Occupy Wall Street movement a "disgrace" that was ended only when governors and mayors got tough.
(More President Trump stories.)

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