Some Senate Republicans are raising concerns about the tone of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric amid protests over the death of George Floyd.
Trump’s press briefing in the Rose Garden and the actions that followed on Monday have been with opposition not only from Democrats but also by several of his fellow Republicans.
Trump, who described himself as a “law and order” president expressed a desire to use a forceful, dominant approach to governing states.
According to many Republicans — including Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) along with Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) — Trump’s tone and rhetoric may send the wrong message, reports The Hill.
During this critical time, many are urging him to change his tone and call for unity.
Toomey weighed in on Trump’s stance during a press conference on Monday, saying, “I do think some of his tweets have not been helpful, and it would be helpful if he would change the tone of his message.”
Thune has also echoed similar sentiments.
“I agree with those assessments. That’s not helpful,” Thune said, adding, “I think it’s important to respond in a calm way.”
He continued, “He needs to strike a tone, I think, that fits the level of frustration the country is experiencing right now, and I hope in the future he’ll do that.”
Concerned Republicans’ latest remarks follow Trump’s weekend of tweets. The president was accused of glorifying violence which resulted in Twitter censoring tweets. At one point, the president threatened protesters with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.”
….got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard – didn’t know what hit them. The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020
….good practice.” As you saw last night, they were very cool & very professional. Never let it get out of hand. Thank you! On the bad side, the D.C. Mayor, @MurielBowser, who is always looking for money & help, wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved. “Not their job.” Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020
On Sunday, Scott appeared on Fox News where he also weighed in on the tweet that eliciting a 1967 call for an aggressive response against protests that escalate to looting.
According to Scott, who is the only black Republican in the Senate, “Those are not constructive tweets, without any question.”
He also offered details about his conversation with the president about the tweets.
“We talked about the fact that there is a constructive way to have a dialogue with a nation in this similar fashion that we had a conversation after Charlottesville,” Scott said. “The president will listen, if you engage him with the facts of the issue.”
See Scott’s remarks below:
Like Scott, Gardner also said that he would not have tweeted the remarks Trump shared.
“I wouldn’t have sent them,“ Gardner said. “I think we’ve got to bring people together. This is not about violence. It’s about finding answers and solutions,” he said.
Romney has also criticized Trump’s tweet saying, “when the looting comes, the shooting comes.”
https://twitter.com/TwitterComms/status/1266267446979129345
“I think that was a very unfortunate comment,” Romney said.
Twitter flagged the president’s remarks as it labeled the tweet as “glorifying violence,” as previously reported on IJR.
Hours after making that statement, Trump claimed he was not aware that the quote derived from the 1960s rhetoric of a Miami police chief widely criticized by civil rights organizations.