As Protests and Violence Spill Over, Trump
Shrinks Back
The president spent Sunday out of sight, berating
opponents on Twitter, even as some of his campaign advisers were recommending
that he deliver a televised address to an anxious nation.
As hundreds
of protesters gathered outside the White House on Friday evening, Secret
Service agents rushed the president to an underground bunker.
Peter
BakerMaggie Haberman
By Peter
Baker and Maggie Haberman
Published
May 31, 2020
WASHINGTON
— Inside the White House, the mood was bristling with tension. Hundreds of
protesters were gathering outside the gates, shouting curses at President Trump
and in some cases throwing bricks and bottles. Nervous for his safety, Secret
Service agents abruptly rushed the president to the underground bunker used in
the past during terrorist attacks.
The scene
on Friday night, described by a person with firsthand knowledge, kicked off an
uneasy weekend at the White House as demonstrations spread after the brutal
death of a black man in police custody under a white officer’s knee. While in
the end officials said they were never really in danger, Mr. Trump and his
family have been rattled by protests near the Executive Mansion that turned
violent for a third night on Sunday.
After days
in which the empathy he expressed for George Floyd, the man killed, was
overshadowed by his combative threats to ramp up violence against looters and
rioters, Mr. Trump spent Sunday out of sight, even as some of his campaign
advisers were recommending that he deliver a nationally televised address
before another night of violence. The building was even emptier than usual as
some White House officials planning to work were told not to come in case of
renewed unrest.
Thousands
of protesters demonstrated peacefully near the White House during the day, but
by nightfall, with hundreds still in the streets, the scene turned more
volatile as crowds surged forward against lines of riot police with plastic
shields as the two sides vied for control of Lafayette Square across from the
White House. Protesters threw water bottles, set off fireworks and burned a
pile of wood and at least one car.
One of the
fires on H Street NW a block from the White House may have spread because soon
afterward flames erupted in the basement of St. John’s Episcopal Church, the
iconic “church of presidents” attended at least once by every chief executive
going back to James Madison, but were soon doused by firefighters. Businesses
far away from the White House boarded up to guard against vandalism, and Mayor
Muriel E. Bowser ordered an 11 p.m. curfew. The White House turned off at least
some of its exterior lights.
Mr. Trump
remained cloistered inside, periodically sending out Twitter messages like “LAW
& ORDER!” until the evening, when he went quiet. While some aides urged him
to keep off Twitter, Mr. Trump could not resist blasting out a string of
messages earlier in the day berating Democrats for not being tough enough and
attributing the turmoil to radical leftists.
“Get tough
Democrat Mayors and Governors,” he wrote. Referring to his presumptive
Democratic presidential opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., he
added: “These people are ANARCHISTS. Call in our National Guard NOW. The World
is watching and laughing at you and Sleepy Joe. Is this what America wants?
NO!!!”
The
president said his administration “will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist
Organization,” referring to the shorthand for “anti-fascist,” and scheduled a
meeting with Attorney General William P. Barr for Monday morning. But antifa is
a movement of activists who dress in black and have used tactics similar to
those of anarchists, not an organization with a clear structure that can be
penalized under law. Moreover, American law applies terrorist designations to
foreign entities, not domestic groups.
By
targeting antifa, however, Mr. Trump effectively paints all the protests with
the brush of violent radicalism without addressing the underlying conditions
that have driven many people to the streets. Demonstrations have broken out in
at least 75 cities in recent days, with governors and mayors deploying the
National Guard or imposing curfews on a scale not seen since the aftermath of
the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
While Mr.
Trump has been a focus of anger, particularly among the crowds in Washington,
aides repeatedly have tried to explain to him that the protests were not only
about him, but about broader, systemic issues related to race, according to
several people familiar with the discussions. Privately, advisers complained
about his tweets, acknowledging that they were pouring fuel on an already
incendiary situation.
“Those are
not constructive tweets, without any question,” Senator Tim Scott of South
Carolina, the only black Republican in the Senate, said in an interview on “Fox
News Sunday.” “I’m thankful that we can have the conversation. We don’t always
agree on any of his tweets beforehand, but we have the ability to sit down and
dialogue on how we move this nation forward.”
Dan
Eberhart, a Republican donor and supporter of Mr. Trump, said the president,
with election looming in five months, is focused on catering to his core
supporters rather than the nation at large. “Trump is far more divisive than
past presidents,” Mr. Eberhart said. “His strength is stirring up his base, not
calming the waters.”
Robert C.
O’Brien, the president’s national security adviser, said the president would
continue “to take a strong stand for law and order” even as he understood the
anger over Mr. Floyd’s death.
“We want
peaceful protesters who have real concerns about brutality and racism. They
need to be able to go to the city hall. They need to be able to petition their
government and let their voices be heard,” Mr. O’Brien said on “State of the
Union” on CNN. “And they can’t be hijacked by these left-wing antifa militants
who are burning down primarily communities in the African-American sections and
the Hispanic sections of our city.”
But Mr.
Trump’s absence rankled the Democrats he was criticizing.
“What I’d
like to hear from the president is leadership,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of
Atlanta said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “And I would like to hear a genuine
care and concern for our communities and where we are with race relations in
America.”
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário