Why Donald Trump can see a political opportunity in violence – leader comment

Protesters in America should heed the words of the late George Floyd’s brother Terrence, stop the violence and prepare to use the ballot box to change the country for the better.

Donald Trump sent National Guard and riot police to violently disperse a crowd of peaceful protesters in order to stage a photo opportunity at a church. (Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

In 2018, when a group of mostly African American sports stars began to kneel during the US national anthem in protest against the killings of unarmed black people by police, Donald Trump got angry.

He was not enraged by the injustice, the needless loss of life or racism in America. Instead, the US President was angry that the players had, in his view, disrespected The Star-Spangled Banner. “You have to stand proudly for the national anthem, or you shouldn’t be there... maybe you shouldn’t be in the country,” he said.

So his response to the current demonstrations and violent riots over the death of yet another unarmed black man, George Floyd, at the hands of police – after an officer knelt on his neck even though the arrested man was restrained by others, handcuffed, lying on the ground, saying he could not breathe, pleading for his life, and even after he appeared to lose consciousness – was predictable.

After using the words of a notorious civil rights-era police chief – “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” – Trump sent riot police and the National Guard to violently disperse a crowd of peaceful protesters and journalists in order to stage a photo opportunity seemingly designed to show that he is up for a fight.

George Floyd’s brother Terrence also took to the streets, but with a very different message, appealing over a loud-hailer for the violence to stop and for protesters to “stop thinking your voice don’t matter, and vote”.

The disorder has been described as the most serious in America since Dr Martin Luther King, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his civil rights activism, was murdered in 1968.

In his most famous speech, Dr King stressed the importance of peaceful protest and that his dream was “deeply rooted in the American dream”, that “one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” He clearly articulated what was wrong in the US but also what made it great.

Trump has no idea, but he can see a political opportunity from the current unrest.

Given his incompetent handling of the Covid crisis, the tendency of people to gravitate towards a ‘political strongman’ in a crisis may be his only hope.

The violence must stop because it is wrong but also because it is playing into his hands and one of the most important issues in the world today is the removal of this racist, sexist, serial liar from the White House.

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