The Ringmaster Thinks the Bible Will Save Him in November

In the middle of a global pandemic, Minneapolis police arrested George Floyd, allegedly for using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy a pack of cigarettes. Officer Derek Chauvin held his knee to Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds while Floyd repeated, "I can't breathe." Chauvin, along with Officers Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, were immediately fired from the police force after videos surfaced. Authorities arrested these men and charged Chauvin with second degree murder and the other three with with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

The entire world knows of George Floyd's death and the entire world stands in shock at the police brutality we have witnessed. Despite the danger of the coronavirus, many have left their months-long quarantines to respectfully protest. But, most of all, the African American community is angry this savagery continues against Black men and women.

A president's role during times like this is to show empathy and unite the country. Donald Trump has done neither. Instead, he has advocated for "law and order," specifically strong-arm tactics meant to shut down any demonstrations against this atrocity. CNN's Anderson Cooper stated:

"What the president doesn’t seem to know or care is that the vast majority of those protesting, they too are calling for law and order. A black man killed with four officers holding him down, a knee to the neck, for more than eight minutes, more than three minutes which he was no longer conscious for. that is not law and order. That’s murder."

Sunday, May 31, as protesters stood in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, officers took the President to a bunker five stories below for his own protection. The next day, he was furious with news reports of his bunker hiding. In a call with governors he stated, "If you don't dominate, you're wasting your time. They're going to run all over you, you'll look like a bunch of jerks." That most demonstrations were peaceful meant little.

The next day, to prove his power and virility, Trump briefly addressed the nation from the Rose Garden declaring, "I am your President of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters." Yet minutes later, he walked across Lafayette Park to St. John's Episcopal Church, not to connect with Americans, but to pose with a Bible in front of the church. He said nothing. Instead, it was a signal to his base of evangelical supporters that he wasn't afraid to take action. To dominate.

To make this empty gesture, without warning, police fired rubber bullets and flashbang grenades at unsuspecting protestors to clear Trump's path to the church. It was unprecedented and unnecessary. As Cooper said that evening, "People have waited for days for this wannabe wartime president to say something. And this is what he says. And that is what he does."

This was reality TV at its most shocking and perverse, orchestrated by our reality TV strongman president. It was not only an insult to every law abiding American, but the summation of Donald Trump's presidency. All the while, the Republican Party was mute. This is what this country has become under Donald Trump. He thinks a Bible can save him in November. But even the elephants won't be able save this circus.

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Taken on: June 16, 2020

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