By Sophia Rijo
Staff Writer
President Trump, as we all know by now, is sometimes a very complicated and easily misunderstood person. One day he can say how much he loves one thing and by the next hour will completely change his entire stance. There’s nothing new to this, so why mention it at all?
I’ve recently read an article written by David Leonhardt from the New York Times, “It Isn’t Complicated: Trump Encourages Violence.” In this article, Leonhardt points out multiple instances where President Trump would imply that his supporters and his “people” could take some violent course of actions when faced with a problem that doesn’t suit their agenda.
One of those instances was when President Trump was giving a speech to the Suffolk County Police Department – in which he was telling the force that when placing a suspect in the back of a squad car they should just “take the hand away” from their head. Police officers when taking in a suspect usually place a hand on top of the suspects head as a way of protecting them from hitting the top of the car. Every police department has rules and regulations set in place to handle suspects and prisoners.
Police brutality is a serious civil rights issue which dates back to 1872. One of the most well-known cases, was the beating of Rodney King in 1991. While the word “brutality” isn’t used as commonly as it was back then, the term “excessive force” is.
Nowadays, the relationship between communities and the police is on thin ice. I believe people have never fully trusted the police because the system in place doesn’t do a fine job at keeping the bad apples in check.
Another one of Trump’s speeches about violence is when he spoke about his “‘Second Amendment people’ preventing the appointment of liberal judges,” or when he “suggested his supporters ‘knock the hell’ out of hecklers.” Leonhardt makes a valid point when he says that usual Trump supporters would justify his speech by saying that people shouldn’t take his words seriously and that when he says things like that it’s not literal.
By speaking about violence, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you support it, but it can have an impact on people. In Leonhardt’s article he cites author Steven Levitsky, a Harvard political scientist, who said, “Violent talk can, at minimum, encourage lone-wolf violence.”
One of those lone wolves could be the white nationalist supporters who see Trump as one of them. A lone wolf could be that one guy with the gun who shoots up a school, or a church or random pedestrians on the street in the name of Trump. The saying actions speak louder than words is a true quote, but words hold a deeper meaning than actions.
If I got into an argument with someone, I wouldn’t point out that they yelled at me, or that they gave me a weird look – I would point out what they said to me because it hurt my feelings, it impacted me. Words are so powerful.
Leonhardt argues that while “Trump doesn’t deserve to be blamed for any specific crime…he does deserve blame for the trend.” I would have to disagree. A trend is only a trend if it garners up traction by people who make it “popular.” Trump does have to watch what he says, but that doesn’t mean that if he says “go beat up this reporter” that people will automatically do it. People will only do something if they want to do it.
Trump’s Second Amendment supporters will only do something about the liberal judges if they are willing to do it. While Trump can be blamed for not taking responsibility of the position that he holds and the power and influence that comes from it, it would not be right to place all the blame on him. Some of that blame would have to go on his supporters. His supporters are the ones who voted for Trump in the election, they are the ones that defend him and believe he is making America better. Without support, I am positive that Trump wouldn’t be as controversial, although he still wouldn’t be America’s most liked person.
People are blind to see the faults of those who they admire. It’s just like when a celebrity is caught in a scandal and every person, or fan who’s known them or watched them is in complete shock because they can’t believe that they would do something like that. The President of the United States is the literal spokesperson for America. They have to be careful of what they say and how they say it. Trump is no exception.
Every president must have had a slip up and said something that the shouldn’t have, but they should learn from that mistake. Trump is still figuring out if he’s made a mistake or not.
