President Trump on Tuesday continued expressing his unwavering support for federal law enforcement days after agents fatally shot a man who was suspected of killing a pro-Trump supporter during protests in Portland.
In a Tuesday tweet, the President appeared to hail federal officers in Portland, bragging that his administration would get the officers sent out “in a matter of minutes.”
They are not “peaceful protesters”, as Sleepy Joe and the Democrats call them, they are THUGS – And it is all taking place in Democrat run cities. Call me and request Federal HELP. We will solve your problems in a matter of minutes – And thanks to the U.S. Marshalls in Portland!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 8, 2020
The President’s latest infomercial-like advertisement for federal troops isn’t his first. On Saturday, Trump offered congratulations to U.S. Marshals for supposedly bolstering his vision of being the President of “law and order.”
Congratulations to the U.S. Marshals on a job well done in Portland. LAW & ORDER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2020
It’s worth noting that Trump’s ongoing praise for the federal agents who fatally shot the alleged Portland shooter suspected of killing one of his supporters comes amid the White House’s refusal to distance itself from Kyle Rittenhouse — the 17-year-old pro-police Trump supporter who has been criminally charged with homicide in the shooting deaths of two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during unrest following the shooting of Jacob Blake by police.
During a press conference at the White House last week, Trump suggested that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense as he appeared to double down on his retweet of a video showing his supporters driving into Portland with the comment “GREAT PATRIOTS.”
“You saw the same tape as I saw and he was trying to get away from them I guess, it looks like,” Trump said. “And he fell and then they very violently attacked him and it was something that we are looking at right now and it’s under investigation.”
The President then guessed that Rittenhouse was “in very big trouble” and that “he probably would’ve been killed.”
Trump campaign press secretary Hogan Gidley also refused to condemn Rittenhouse during an interview on CNN last week.
“It does make sense just logically, if you don’t allow police to do their job, then the American people have to defend themselves some way,” Gidley told CNN.
