Friend,
Welcome to our weekly “Trumptastrophe” email series that serves to remind us of the destructive policies, decisions, and actions we encountered during the Trump presidency and the threats that he and others in the MAGA movement still pose – and to keep those moments clear in our memory as we fight to defeat Republican extremists during the upcoming elections.
This week’s Trumptastrophe focuses on former President Trump’s enablement of police violence and brutality:
On June 4, an elderly man taking part in a peaceful protest of the police killing of George Floyd was seriously hurt when he was shoved by two Buffalo, New York, police officers and fell backward onto the sidewalk, injuring his brain. While many local, state, and national officials responded to video of the event by condemning the actions of the police, Trump spread false conspiracy theories about the protester, who was at the time hospitalized and unable to walk.
The injured protester, Martin Gugino, was widely described as a gentle man with long involvement in peaceful social justice activism. But Trump amplified far-right media outlets attempting to portray him as something far more sinister.
“Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur,” Trump tweeted to his 80 million followers a few days after the incident. “75-year-old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?” The far-right One America News Network had suggested without any evidence that Gugino was trying to use his cellphone to knock out police officers’ radios.
As the New York Times noted, Trump’s false tweet “raced across the internet all day even as Mr. Gugino, 75, still lay in the hospital.” More from the Times:
The president and his allies have often tried to place anti-fascists and other “outside agitators” at the center of the protests as a way to delegitimize them and to deflect from the fact that the vast majority of the demonstrations have been peaceful.
But even by his own standards, Mr. Trump appeared to test the boundaries of credulity by trying to brand a retired septuagenarian computer programmer as a follower of Antifa, whose adherents are, for one thing, generally much younger.
A CNN commentator called Trump’s tweet “deeply irresponsible.” It was just one of the ways Trump’s actions as president “gave police permission to be brutal,” in the words of journalist Adam Serwer.
Indeed, the episode reminds us of the many irresponsible ways Trump used—and continues to use—his reach on social media and his reliance on far-right media outlets that function as virtual Trump campaign operations. And it confirms once again why Trump’s return to power would be devastating for democracy and democratic values.
- Trump is a relentless liar who spreads misinformation and repeats his favorite false claims long after they have been debunked. Making truth meaningless is a tool of authoritarians. Political philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote that it’s the goal of such leaders to create followers who no longer distinguish between fact and fiction, true and false. That’s Trump and his MAGA movement in a nutshell; millions have embraced his demonstrably false claims about the 2020 election and other topics.
- Trump’s obsession with portraying loosely organized anti-fascist activists as serious threats to the country after the Floyd protests diverted Justice Department and law enforcement resources away from investigations of white supremacists and other far-right extremists who actually represented much more of a threat—as we all witnessed on Jan. 6, 2021—including some of the violent people Trump had urged to “stand back and stand by.”
- As a candidate and president, Trump encouraged violent policing, and not only by telling cops not to be “too nice” to suspects. In 2020, the Center for American Progress reviewed Trump’s record on police brutality and peaceful protests, concluding, “For his entire political career, Trump has advocated police brutality and escalations of violence against perceived political opponents, and he has stood against peaceful protests.”
- The Trump administration limited and undermined the Justice Department’s ability to use consent decrees, a tool for enforcing changes in police departments with a documented pattern of racist, violent, abusive police practices. Vox concluded in 2020 that “Trump and his administration have worked to solidify a place for police violence in American life through both rhetoric and policy.”
- Trump has also demonstrated an authoritarian contempt for the news media, riling up hostile crowds and praising violence against journalists.
- Trump openly expresses admiration for leaders that suppress political opposition and free media, and he equates brutality with “strength.” As noted in a previous edition of Trumptastrophe, “A year after the massacre at Tiananmen Square, where the Chinese government killed an unknown number of peaceful protesters, Trump said ‘they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength.’”
- The Trump allies and former Trump administration officials behind Project 2025 have concrete plans for Trump to abolish the independence of the Justice Department and allow him to turn it into a weapon against his political opponents and personal enemies.
These are just some of the reasons we need YOU in this fight. So, find your favorite way to unwind after reading through this week’s recap, and then make a plan for how you will fight back this week, this month, this election cycle.
For members who are interested in sharing the weekly Trumptastrophe series, you can find all previous editions on our website! This post will be published by Thursday so you can share with your friends and family and remind them of the importance of ensuring that Trump is defeated again this November.
Thanks for all that you do to defeat Republican extremism.
– People For the American Way
| DONATE NOW |
|
Do not reply directly to this e-mail. Please use [email protected]. Trouble viewing the email? This email was sent to [email protected]. If you have any thoughts, comments, or criticisms, or if there's a better email address at which to reach you, please let us know. If you'd like to unsubscribe from our list, you can do that here.
|
