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How do we think about the George Floyd murder?
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President Trump is weaponising the crisis for personal gain

Trump has made a series of unfounded claims, variously blaming the violence on Democrat officials, Antifa and former Vice President Joe Biden. He has also called out Democrat governors and mayors for being weak in the face of crisis, and refusing to crack down with more militaristic measures. In doing so, he is creating a false dichotomy between the 'weak left' and 'strong right'. Many see his response as political opportunism in the lead-up to the 2020 election. Proponents including CNN reporter Marshall Cohen and Guardian DC Bureau Chief David Smith.

The Argument

The current president of The United States has been weaponizing the ongoing crisis in America. He has been doing this by repeatedly using rhetoric such as describing protesters as “left-wing mobs’ and trying to pitch himself as the leader who will bring “law and order”[1] Trump’s vice president Mike Pence stated “The hard truth is you will not be safe in Joe Biden’s America” as he is trying to pit American citizens against Biden.[2] Trump has also blamed the swell in Covid-19 cases on protests, even though he has been repeatedly pushing to reopen the national economy.[3] Trump has tweeted multiple times stating that the protesters are “thugs” and “scum” even labeling them as “terrorists” in one tweet.[4] He has a history of tweeting harsh things about peaceful protesters, such as a series of 18 tweets through September and October 2017 complaining about the peaceful protest of kneeling during the national anthem, displayed by multiple NFL players.[4] However, after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, where protesters chanted “Jew will not replace us.” and one of the protestors drove his car through a crowd of people, his response was “there are good people on both sides.”[4]

Counter arguments

President Trump is not the one weaponizing this crisis, because Joe Biden blamed Donald Trump for these riots, so he is the one weaponizing the protests currently going on in America. Biden also stated that these protests are “right and necessary” allowing these violent protests to continue.[5]

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://pressroom.usc.edu/election-2020-how-racial-justice-protests-could-influence-the-vote/
  2. https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/politics-issues/2020-08-30/fact-check-trump-and-bidens-records-on-criminal-justice
  3. https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/2020-07-22/trump-blames-protests-ignoring-his-own-push-to-reopen-as-virus-surges
  4. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/06/05/donald-trump-does-not-hate-protests-he-hates-dissent/
  5. https://dailycaller.com/2020/09/04/democrats-media-donald-trump-riots-protests-responsible-unrest-american-cities-kenosha-portland/
This page was last edited on Monday, 9 Nov 2020 at 22:55 UTC

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