Thursday, 23 July 2020 _US President Donald Trump "wants to instigate a race war" by sending federal troops to cities to crack down on protests, says a senior American lawmaker.
Illinois Democratic Representative Bobby Rush, who has served in Congress since 1993, appeared on a radio show on Wednesday to decry the US government's crackdown on protesters seeking racial justice in Portland, Oregon.
"Trump wants to instigate a race war," Rush said. "He wants to have Black folks fighting white folks. So he can rise up and say, 'I'm the real Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and I'm the president. Reelect me. That's what he's trying to do. He's trying to play to the fears, to the racial animus that exists among certain white people, and he will do everything and anything to do that because he wants to be reelected at all costs."
Trump is deploying federal law enforcement to Chicago and threatened to send agents to other major cities, where protests against police brutality and racial injustice are underway in the wake of George Floyd's death by a police officer in Minnesota.
New York, Philadelphia, Detroit and other urban centers may be the next in line to witness camouflage-clad agents.
With the poor response to the covid-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, Trump appears to be taking the opportunity to rebuild his 2020 presidential base by showing a tough response to the demonstrators.
Your Comment