It took six days of rioting, looting, and violence for President Trump to address the nation. And on Monday, when he did finally give an address, his demand for law and order and his salute to peaceful protesters was largely overshadowed by an unnecessary photo op that forced law enforcement to clear away nonviolent protesters who were in the area.

Had the White House waited 15 minutes, the Secret Service would have had the right to force the protesters to dispel since they would have been violating Washington’s 7 p.m. curfew. Instead, law enforcement needlessly provoked peaceful civilians so Trump could stand in front of a church and hold a Bible. The whole event was, as my colleague Tim Carney put it, crude, awkward, and entirely preventable. And it speaks to the larger issue with Trump’s response to these riots, which is: There has been no real response.