Unlike some other high-profile deaths of black men by white cops, the country has swiftly united in outrage against the cop who seemingly crushed George Floyd’s neck, allegedly killing him, without any legal or moral justification. President Trump rightly called on the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate Floyd’s death, and despite recalcitrance from the prosecution, it’s impossible to imagine a political reality in which the cops in question aren’t tried for murder and potentially a hate crime.
In a time when a pandemic has killed more than 100,000 people in the United States and the resulting lockdown has led to the loss of more than 30 million jobs, Trump could simply continue his early calls to condemn the killing and urge a rapid federal investigation. But amid a destructive uprising now burning parts of Minneapolis to the ground, Trump has decided to turn this into a scandal the scope and substance of which we haven’t seen since he attempted to conflate anti-racist protesters with neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Consider two tweets. One was written by a woman routinely mocked by the media for not appearing adequately intelligent, and the other is written by the leader of the free world.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
Alternately: “Our country allows for peaceful protests, but there is no reason for violence. I’ve seen our citizens unify & take care of one another through COVID-19 & we can’t stop now. My deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd. As a nation, let’s focus on peace, prayers & healing.”
The second was written by first lady Melania Trump. The first was written by her husband.
The problem isn’t that Trump is condemning rioting. Nobody watching minority-owned businesses being burnt to a crisp believes that this is what justice looks like. But Trump can hardly contain his glee at the odds that law enforcement may be baited into shooting protesters. The nation needs moral leadership now, sure, but even more so, it craves a sense of humanity. Trump’s tweets aren’t just callous. They signal a black hole of empathy, a sense of thrill that this temporary clash of rioters and law enforcement could become some grand Blue Lives Matter war against Black Lives Matter.
And it didn’t have to be like this. Imagine if Trump had just decided to tweet out what his wife tweeted? Instead, he couldn’t help himself. We already know that the man loves a performance, but the utter excitement of his tweet presented a new low, a new norm shattered.
This will cost him politically, and he will deserve it.
