Donald Trump needs to put a lid on the conspiracy theories — this bizarre intimation that President Obama somehow supports recent police shootings, “something going on” — and focus on unifying the party and appealing to the American electorate this week.
The growing ranks of assassinated cops on Obama’s watch will be a part of his legacy — going back to the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, and Obama’s “acting stupidly” gaffe about the Cambridge cops — he’s rarely missed a chance to inflame racial tensions.
But Trump has a general election to win, and a broad swath of voters to win over, and he should rise above petty accusations about Obama and focus on ways to fix the divisiveness.
“I mean, you know, I watched the president and sometimes the words are OK,” Trump said yesterday on Fox News. “But you just look at the body language. There’s something going on. Look, there’s something going on and the words are not often OK, by the way.”
It’s not that Trump has to entirely avoid the topic. He could legitimately zero in on Obama’s previous comments where he’s essentially blamed cops for the violent conditions they have to work with. Obama has served up plenty of disturbing rhetoric that Trump should be addressing.
Obama recently said, “There are legitimate issues that have been raised, and there’s data and evidence to back up the concerns that are being expressed by these protesters. … And if police organizations and departments acknowledge that there’s a problem and there’s an issue, then that, too, is going to contribute to real solutions. And ... that is what’s going to ultimately help make the job of being a cop a lot safer.”
This is Trump’s week to shine while conservatives converge on Cleveland for the Republican National Convention. Instead of highlighting how he will keep us safe, Trump’s engaging in silly innuendo that won’t bring in disenfranchised voters frustrated by the status quo. Americans want to hear more about his latest slogan, “Keep America Safe Again,” and less about some conspiracy theory.
“There’s just a bad feeling, a lot of bad feeling about him,” Trump told Fox. “I see it, too. There’s a lot of bad feeling about him. We have a country that has not been like this since I can remember it.”
Hopefully this is the only black eye Trump will inflict on himself this week — certainly Democrats will do what they can to diminish any success from the convention.
Jaclyn Cashman co-hosts “Morning Meeting” from 9 a.m. to noon on Boston Herald Radio. Follow her on Twitter @JaclynCashman.
Copyright © 2024 Jaclyn Cashman.
