A Friday report from NBC News spotlights the alleged turmoil of Donald Trump’s administration as the White House navigates the volatile political landscape sparked by the protests initially concerning George Floyd’s death. In particular, one political adviser claimed that Trump is having difficulty grasping the moment.
“It looks like he’s bewildered right now,” they said.
“We’re losing the culture war because we won’t engage directly, because we’re so scared to be called racist.”
According to the adviser, Trump and his allies should be going on the offensive against the Black Lives Matter movement and the “crazy leftist ideas” it is purportedly providing cover for. However, another adviser suggested the president focus on leading the country on issues like race and policing and push for a chokehold ban, which Trump recently addressed.
Per NBC News , Trump claimed that none of the protesters voted for him.
“These aren’t my voters,” the president allegedly said.
The report also claims that some Trump aides are concerned about how “out of touch” the president is on race relations. Conversely, others reportedly agree with Trump’s perception of the protesters.
According to one White House official, Trump doesn’t believe the protests are directly related to him, which is a factor influencing his hesitance to weigh in on the situation.
“So he’s been inclined to only weigh in to the extent he feels he needs to. He doesn’t want to make this ‘Trump versus the protestors,’ more he’s the outsider factor that can bring about law and order.”
According to a Republican allegedly close to the White House, Trump is fixated on reelection but unable to grasp the effect of his recent inaction on his chances in November. The source also claimed Trump does not accept any of the internal or external polls that consistently show him behind Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden .
As reported by CNN , Trump appears to be stubborn in his defiance of the culture war that is sweeping America. In particular, the president has opposed renewed calls to remove monuments and symbols of Confederate generals, which critics argue are a reminder of America’s racist history. But CNN claims Trump is arguing that there is “something fundamentally un-American and liberal” about removing symbols from the Civil War. The publication claims Trump is arguing the same about believing that the country’s police departments are driven by systemic racism.
Despite Trump’s seeming opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement, a new Yahoo News /YouGov poll suggests that American support for the movement is skyrocketing — and that a majority of the country disagrees with the president’s approach to the protests.
