Trump’s show of force fizzles in backlash over ‘crackdown’

Bloomberg

Donald Trump faced a dwindling set of options to address nationwide unrest, after a backlash erupted over the government’s violent dispersal of peaceful protests outside the White House, plunging the president into more election-year turmoil.
For Trump and his conservative backers, his photo op in front of historic St John’s Episcopal Church with Bible in hand was a show of strength — a symbolic move meant to reassure Americans that he would restore law and order after several nights of chaos in major US cities over the death of George Floyd.
Instead, Trump’s display prompted a cascade of condemnation from religious leaders, Democrats and even some Republicans. Images of police using tear gas and flash-bang devices to clear protesters from Lafayette Square ahead of Trump’s walk to the church marred his presidency anew at a time when his public support was already slipping over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
No Republican governors publicly accepted Trump’s invitation to send the military to crush riots and looting; Texas’s Greg Abbott said at a news conference that “Texans can take care of Texans.”
And the show of force failed to deter demonstrations in the nation’s capital and other cities. Large crowds of protesters began marching on public streets in Washington, challenging both the city’s 7 pm curfew and Trump’s authority.
Trump continued to advocate for toughness, tweeting such statements as “Get tough police!” and “The National Guard is ready!” He was praised by some evangelical Christian leaders for his walk to the church.
“By holding up the Bible, he was showing us that it teaches that, yes, God hates racism, it’s despicable — but God also hates lawlessness,” pastor Robert Jeffress said in an interview with The Atlantic.
But the crisis — and Trump’s response — has created an opening for likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who seized on the president’s missteps.
He delivered a televised speech from Philadelphia, saying that had Trump opened his Bible “instead of brandishing it, he could have learned something: That we are all called to love one another as we love ourselves.”
A Monmouth University poll released showed 74% of Americans say the country is on the wrong track, an alarming response to a question pollsters consider important in judging a president’s re-election chances.

US scenes of violence draw cross-party UK condemnation
Bloomberg

The scenes of violence in the US drew condemnation from across Britain’s political spectrum on Wednesday, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson was careful to avoid directly criticising President Donald Trump.
At the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in Parliament, opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer opened by expressing his “shock and anger” at the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He said it had “shone a light on racism and hatred experienced by many in the US” and urged Johnson, when speaking to Trump, to “convey to him the UK’s abhorrence about his response to the events.”
Johnson’s response swerved the question of the president, with whom he has generally had a warm relationship. “What happened in the US was appalling,” he said. “It was inexcusable.
I perfectly understand people’s right to protest. I also believe that protest should take place in a lawful and reasonable way.”