The NPR Politics Podcast - Trump Threatens To Deploy Military To States If They Don't Stop Violent Protests

Episode Date: June 2, 2020

Escalating his rhetoric during a period of roiling national crises, President Trump on Monday threatened to deploy the U.S. military to cities or states that don't take "necessary" actions to halt violent protests, saying the armed forces will "quickly solve the problem for them." This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.Connect:Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here.Email the show at [e-mail] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.Find and support your local public radio stationLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. It is 8.43 p.m. on Monday, June 1st. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Ayesha Roscoe. I also cover the White House. And I'm Mara Liason, national political correspondent. At around 6.30 tonight, just as President Trump was supposed to begin delivering a speech from the White House Rose Garden, police, federal agents and the National Guard began clearing peaceful protesters basically just across the street. They held up shields and pushed in a crisis as protesters gather across the country. My administration is fully committed that for George and his family, justice will be served.

He will not have died in vain. But we cannot allow the righteous cries and peaceful protesters to be drowned out by an angry mob. Mara, in a podcast earlier today, you and Ayesha were talking about how for 48 hours, President Trump was essentially silent on this except for tweets. Now he has delivered the speech that many people were asking for. What stood out to you? What stood out to me is that the president has been trying to send two messages. It's just that one is louder than the other. He started the speech by saying that he was fully committed to making sure that for George Floyd and his family, justice will be served. He said he will not have died in vain, but that is the only thing he said

about George Floyd. He didn't say how justice will be served, whether it's prosecuting the police officers. He didn't talk about whether he has any measures that will end the systemic problems that have led to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police. But the rest of the speech was all about, I am your president of law and order about I am your president of law and order. I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters. But in recent days, our nation has been gripped by professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, Antifa, and others. So very tough law and order speech.

Also, to me, the biggest thing about this speech was really the split screen, that if you were watching this on cable news, and that's what's going to be on social media, is as he's talking, you're seeing peaceful protesters. It was not, the curfew for D.C. is 7 p.m. It was not 7 p.m. yet. It was not the curfew for DC is 7 p.m. It was not 7 p.m. It was 630. It was 630. And they were throwing tear gas and flash bangs.

And there were police or law enforcement on horses riding at people. I mean, it was dramatic. It was scary. I mean, to see as he's talking. To say, yes. And if he wants to show that he's an ally of peaceful protesters, he showed the opposite tonight. Well, he has been trying to draw this distinction to say peaceful protesters are good.

You know, mourning for George Floyd is important. You know, having justice for him, that's important. But the rioters, the, you know, the fires, the looting, that's not okay. He's been trying to draw that distinction. But then you have right there, peaceful protesters being cleared out by federal agents. Yeah, but that distinction is something that he shares with every Democratic mayor and governor of the country. In other words, drawing the distinction between peaceful protesters and rioters,

that's something that the overwhelming majority of Americans want their leaders to do. I mean, if you listen to the mayor of Atlanta or the police chiefs of some of these other cities, they are drawing that distinction with a vengeance. The problem is that he hasn't spent a whole lot of time talking about peaceful protesters, pointing out that in some cities, police officers and chiefs took off their gear, took a knee, marched with the protesters. That is happening in some cities. And then in other places, there's been violence. So the distinction

that he's drawing, he mentions it, but the vast majority of his tweets and comments, and certainly in the speech, have been about cracking down, not calming down. And in this speech, he talked about how, you know, if governors don't get their acts together, then he is going to mobilize the military. Today, I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets. Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled. If a city or state

refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them. And he certainly was demonstrating that in Washington, D.C., where presidential power, where, well, it's a city, they don't have a governor, it's a very different system. So they can do this sort of federalized. Yeah, he's like the governor of D.C. And so they can have this federalized approach in D.C. He's saying if states don't get it together, then he wants to see that in other places, potentially. I think it's highly unlikely. The president seems to be establishing the same kind of dichotomy that he did with the COVID pandemic.

He wants total authority, but no responsibility. In other words, mayors and governors are responsible for quelling these riots. And I have the power to step in, but if he does, then all of a sudden he becomes responsible. So I think it really remains to be seen if he is on the verge of invoking the Insurrection Act to send the military into these states.

Most, a lot of the governors where there have been violent riots have already called in the National Guard. He doesn't have to strongly, he said, I strongly recommend to every governor to deploy the National Guard. Well, they already are. I want to get to what happened after the president's speech. At the end, he said, and now I'm going to go pay my respects. To a very special place. And we're like, what is going on here? And then we understood why the peaceful

protesters were cleared out. Because President Trump walked out of the White House gates, which he never does. He always takes a vehicle, All presidents do. It's very rare for a president to just walk out. He walked out very heavily guarded, you know, through sort of a, like a line of police and, and, and we would call it the word holding up their shields as he walked through. He walked through the park that has been the focal point of protest in Washington, D.C. And he went to St. John's Episcopal Church. Holding a Bible. Holding a Bible. Now, the church had been burned,

not severely. It was a small fire, but... In the basement. In the basement last night. And this is a very symbolic church. The church is known as the Church of the Presidents. And every president since Madison has attended services there. And so President Trump goes there, he stands in front, and he poses for pictures holding up a Bible. It was a photo op. I mean, it was there's nothing it was a straight up photo op.

I'm left with this question. For the last couple of days, a lot of people from both parties have said, we need leadership. We need the president of the United States to say something, to show that he has this under control or to show empathy. I mean, there were a lot of things that people said they wanted to hear, but they felt that the silence was deafening. Is what happened today what that leadership looks like? Well, we're going to find out if this is what people wanted to hear. Are people fearful that the riots will come to them and they want someone who will enforce law and order? Or do they want a president who will heal the nation? You know, in the past, violent unrest has always helped Republicans politically and hurt Democrats. That seems like the law and order political playbook that the president is now

invoking. But we're in a very different time. The old historical rules on this might not work because not only is the president the law and order president, he's also the chaos candidate and the president of disruption. And is that what people want? Or are they exhausted by it? And do they feel that he has somehow contributed to the extreme divisiveness that we find ourselves in? All right, we are going to take a quick break. And when we get back, we're going to talk about what might happen next. People like you take back their privacy online. With one download, you can search and browse privately, avoiding trackers. DuckDuckGo. Privacy Simplified. Cell phone footage shows police killing unarmed Black people.

Protesters take to the streets. Rinse and repeat. For a decade. Why? Everyone moves on. A blunt reminder that we've been here before on Code Switch from NPR. And we're back. enforcing curfews and cracking down on protesters and trying to prevent the sort of riots and other disruptive behavior that broke out late at night in many of these cities in recent nights.

You know, as I was watching President Trump's speech, I couldn't help but wonder whether it would calm things down or whether it would escalate an already volatile situation. And the risks for him seem pretty clear. He went out, he gave a speech, he put a flag down. And certainly in Washington, D.C., he's going to own what happens tonight. But all over America, I mean, this could go one of two ways, I guess. I think that it really depends how long this goes on. I mean, if the riots evaporate or kind of burn themselves out in the next couple of days,

well, then the president succeeded. He said he was gonna end it and he did. But if it doesn't, does that make it his problem? I think that at this point with Trump, this is a volatile situation. And even though yes, he's used to kind of these chaotic situations, this is of another level, right? Like these sort of things can go a number of ways very quickly. I mean, I remember back in 2016, where we were dealing with, you know, these police shootings, and there were protests. And then I was on a trip with President Obama at the time

going to Poland. And we woke up in the morning right after he had landed and talked about police brutality. And I believe five police officers have been shot and killed in Dallas. Yeah. God, that was awful. And that changed the tone of that trip. The trip had to be cut short and it changed the discussion. You never know what can happen, right? That's right. And that is what President Trump is dealing with. And even though he may be making a bet, this can go any number of ways that you do not account for or that you do not think. I mean, he certainly stage managed this exactly the way he wanted it to go. It was cinematic, you know, like the reporters that followed him over there to that church

were coughing and choking on tear gas that was still lingering in the air. He created a moment. But that moment could get out of control. Yes, this is what he had control over. But he doesn't have control over the pandemic or the economy right now or where these protests end up. Just like Ayesha said,

we don't know what's going to happen next. There's no doubt that Dallas and Ferguson contributed to Trump's victory in 2016. Where this goes next is unclear. And it's only June 1st. This is not happening in October. We don't know what's going to happen in October. We don't know.

That is a wrap for today. We will be back tomorrow. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Ayesha Roscoe. I also cover the White House. And I'm Mara Liason, national political correspondent. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.