In a phone call to state governors, President Donald Trump on Monday issued a series of harshly worded comments to governors nationwide, CBS News and others report.
Trump told US governors in a meeting today that they need to “dominate” violent protesters. “Most of you are weak,” he said. https://t.co/PZ8sNH2UOT
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 1, 2020
Audio of the conversation is slowly leaking out online.
Here’s the audio of that remarkable call where Trump lashes out at governors and says they need to crack down on protesters. pic.twitter.com/ANSsniYItN
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 1, 2020
“You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time,” Trump reportedly said regarding nationwide civil unrest over the alleged murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody last week. Regarding the protests, many of which have turned violent and destructive, Trump said, “They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.”
JUST IN: President Trump unloads on the nation’s governors on a call, calls on them to step up enforcement: “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.”
— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) June 1, 2020
“Washington was under very good control, but we’re going to have it under much more control. We’re going to pull in thousands of people,” Trump also reportedly said in an apparent reference to Washington, D.C.
In audio obtained by @CBSNEws, Trump tells governors: “Washington was under very good control, but we’re going to have it under much more control. We’re going to pull in thousands of people.” (more)
— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) June 1, 2020
Trump also reportedly mentioned the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his attorney general. “We will activate Bill Barr and activate him very strongly,” Trump reportedly said. It’s not immediately clear what the activation of Attorney General Bill Barr would like or entail.
On the call, Trump references Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Milley and Attorney General Bill Barr. “We will activate Bill Barr and activate him very strongly,” Trump says.
— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) June 1, 2020
One person listening in on the call describes the president’s words and tone as “unhinged.”
— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) June 1, 2020
Trump then reportedly went further by telling governors: “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.”
MORE: Trump tells governors: “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,” per audio obtained by @CBSNews
— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) June 1, 2020
CNN reported that Trump said on the call that he believed the violence was coming from the “radical left.”
“It’s a movement, if you don’t put it down it will get worse and worse,” Trump said, according to CNN. “The only time its successful is when you’re weak and most of you are weak.”
Trump’s words to the nations’ governors: “You have to dominate or you’ll look like a bunch of jerks, you have to arrest & try people…if you don’t put it down it will get worse & worse. The only time its successful is when you’re weak & most of you are weak.” @ryanobles reports
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) June 1, 2020
The Washington Post said Trump “told told the governors that ‘you have to use the military’ and ‘we have a wonderful military,’ said a person on the call.
Trump calls governors “weak,” urges them to “dominate” unruly protests as Barr escalates federal response.
The president told the governors that “you have to use the military” and “we have a wonderful military,” said a person on the call. https://t.co/RgeWOpC0ej
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 1, 2020
Barr, who has directed @OfficialFBOP to send riot teams to protests in Miami and DC, where he also sent the @FBI‘s hostage rescue team last night, also stressed the need for a strong police presence, per @catherine_lucey. https://t.co/k3qK89qiCO
— Sadie Gurman (@sgurman) June 1, 2020
Many among the usual chorus of critics lashed out; some of the responses questioned the legality of Trump’s reported comments.
President Trump appears to have seen footage of police officers throwing women to the curb, speeding cars into crowds, firing rubber bullets at reporters, and pushing a man with a cane to the ground — and has said: “Yes. We need more of that.”
— Matt Viser (@mviser) June 1, 2020
I’m told that on his call with governors and others, Trump is, yet again, calling on a ban against burning the US flag.
The only way to achieve this is an amendment to the constitution as the US Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that a ban would be unconstitutional
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) June 1, 2020
He hid in the bunker https://t.co/EB6jO8auXg
— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) June 1, 2020
He’s a lot more focused on prosecuting protestors than the cops who murdered #GeorgeFloyd https://t.co/UugMV3twBC
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) June 1, 2020
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.]
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