The Trump presidency is going to be very good for law enforcement officers — and likely not as good for people who criticize them.
Trump’s White House site promises to end the “anti-police atmosphere” in America
The revamped WhiteHouse.gov features a dark and aggressive take on policing.
The Trump administration’s support for rank-and-file law enforcement, both local police and federal immigration agents, is well known; they’re a key part of the coalition that put President Trump in office. And on the administration’s newly-unveiled White House site, they get pride of place:
A Trump Administration will empower our law enforcement officers to do their jobs and keep our streets free of crime and violence. The Trump Administration will be a law and order administration. President Trump will honor our men and women in uniform and will support their mission of protecting the public. The dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America is wrong. The Trump Administration will end it.
Further down the page, the site makes it pretty clear who is responsible for this “anti-police atmosphere”:
Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter, or the violent disrupter. Our job is to make life more comfortable for parents who want their kids to be able to walk the streets safely. Or the senior citizen waiting for a bus. Or the young child walking home from school.
America hasn’t exactly been beset by riots or looting. What it has seen, however, are protests (that have almost always been peaceful), often against mistreatment of black Americans at the hands of police. But many Americans (and some in the media) have portrayed those protests as violent riots — and President Trump has often regarded protests, and protesters, as threats to order.
The rhetoric on the White House website is just that: rhetoric. These attitudes would be embodied in the Trump administration even if this page on the site didn’t exist. But the message is being sent clearly that, starting the minute President Trump took the oath of office, rank-and-file police officers have free rein and tacit White House support.
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