Donald Trump and his campaign team apparently had a simple plan: The former president would go to Michigan and talk about crime, which is an issue the Republican sees as electoral strength, despite his criminal record.
The trouble, of course, is that reality got in the way of the pitch.
The Trump campaign, for example, had told The Detroit News that the GOP candidate would agree to an interview, but as the newspaper reported, after the News “began asking about the Michigan crime data before the event, a campaign aide said the presidential candidate no longer had time for an interview.”
Imagine that. Trump declared in Michigan that there’s an ongoing “crime wave” that’s reached levels “nobody has ever seen before.” He was, of course, lying: Though crime rates spiked toward the end of his failed presidency, the United States has seen a dramatic turnaround in recent years. When Team Trump came to realize that the Detroit News might ask the former president to contend with the truth, a scheduled interview opportunity quickly disappeared.
The Republican clearly preferred to bask in his alternate reality. In big cities “almost all run by Democrats,” Trump added, “you can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread. You get shot. You get mugged. You get raped. You get whatever it may be.”
This was demonstrably ridiculous. Trump obviously didn’t care — and it wasn’t the only lie he peddled during the event.
But stepping back, the larger point of the event was apparently to position the GOP candidate as an ally of law enforcement. Indeed, Trump spoke at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office surrounded by deputies in uniform, in front of parked police SUVs. After the remarks, he posted an item to his social media platform with the words “BACK THE BLUE” superimposed over his photograph.
The point, obviously, was to suggest to voters that Trump is aligned with law enforcement. But just as actual crime rates get in the way of the former president’s campaign pitch, Trump’s record gets in the way of his alliance with the police. Consider the newly revised list of The Top 10 Reasons Donald Trump Deserves To Be Seen As An Opponent Of Law Enforcement.
10. Trump has repeatedly lashed out at those he’s described as “dirty cops,” as part of a larger offensive against law enforcement. He’s also condemned law enforcement officials as “fascists” and accused law enforcement officials of pushing “fake” crime rate statistics as part of a political plot to help Democrats.
9. A jury recently found Trump guilty of 34 felonies, and he’s still facing dozens of other criminal counts across multiple jurisdictions.
8. Trump is facing civil suits from police officers who sustained injuries during the Jan. 6 riot the Republican instigated.
7. Trump has condemned common law enforcement tools, including plea agreements for witnesses who cooperate with prosecutors.
6. Trump abused his powers by intervening in criminal cases in which the defendants were political allies, letting politically connected suspects go free — even after some pleaded guilty — and undermining law enforcement in the process.
5. Trump has undermined law enforcement by abusing his pardon powers, in one case even commuting the sentence of a man accused of helping murder of a police officer. 4. Trump lashed out at the police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt as a “thug” and a “coward” who deserves to be vilified. 3. Trump has promised day-one pardons for insurrectionists, many of whom violently clashed with police officers. 2. While in office, Trump saw law enforcement as a political weapon he can wield at his convenience, which led him to urge law enforcement officials to enforce his political vendettas and help Republicans win elections. 1. Trump has expressed support for prosecuting members of the Capitol police. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a sycophantic supporter of the former president, recently declared via social media, “No one Backs The Blue more than President Trump.” There’s ample evidence to the contrary. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post
Recommended
