President Trump lashed out at the mayor of Washington, accusing her of budget mismanagement and a failure to control the city after National Guard troops were called in to protect the White House as rioters attempted to break through the barricades in front of the White House last week.
Writing to Twitter on Friday, Trump said Democratic Mayor Muriel Browser was a “great embarrassment” after she demanded the removal of National Guard troops from Washington earlier in the day.
“The incompetent Mayor of Washington, D.C., @MayorBowser, who’s budget is totally out of control and is constantly coming back to us for “handouts”, is now fighting with the National Guard, who saved her from great embarrassment over the last number of nights,” he said. “If she doesn’t treat these men and women well, then we’ll bring in a different group of men and women!”
The incompetent Mayor of Washington, D.C., @MayorBowser, who’s budget is totally out of control and is constantly coming back to us for “handouts”, is now fighting with the National Guard, who saved her from great embarrassment…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2020
…over the last number of nights. If she doesn’t treat these men and women well, then we’ll bring in a different group of men and women!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2020
The president did not immediately make clear what would be the “different group of men and women” that would patrol Washington’s streets if the National Guard becomes insufficient.
Trump and Bowser have engaged in a heated war of words over the past week as thousands poured through the streets of Washington to demonstrate in the wake of George Floyd’s death, who died while he was in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department.
In a letter sent to Trump on Friday, Bowser accused the president of using National Guard troops to intimidate and inflame protesters who have squared off with police and, in some cases, turned to rioting and looting stores in the city.
“The deployment of federal law enforcement personnel and equipment are inflaming demonstrators and adding to the grievances of those who, by and large, are peacefully protesting for change and for reforms to the racist and broken systems that are killing black Americans,” Bowser wrote in the letter.
