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Donald Trump says police face reform, up to a point

Donald Trump has made his first policy proposal to the Black Lives Matter protests.

‘You always have a bad apple, no matter where you go’: Donald Trump leaves the White House for Dallas on Friday. Picture: AP
‘You always have a bad apple, no matter where you go’: Donald Trump leaves the White House for Dallas on Friday. Picture: AP

US President Donald Trump says his administration will call on police departments to adopt national standards for use of force, in his first policy proposal to the Black Lives Matter protests.

Speaking at a campaign-style event at a Dallas church on Friday AEST, Mr Trump said more money would be invested in police training. He repeatedly stated his support for police and said progress would not be made by labelling millions of Americans as racist.

“In recent days, there has been vigorous discussion about how to ensure fairness, equality and justice for all of our people,” he said.

“Unfortunately, there’s some trying to stoke division and to push an extreme agenda — which we won’t go for — that will produce only more poverty, more crime, more suffering. This includes radical efforts to defund, dismantle and disband the police.”

Mr Trump’s comments were his first proposing any action on policing and race following the death on May 25 of George Floyd. His death prompted a wave of protests in US cities and abroad, re-energising the racial justice movement.

“You always have a bad apple, no matter where you go,” said Mr Trump, who is making law and order a new keystone of his bid to win a second term on November 3.

“There aren’t too many of them in the police department. We have to work together to confront bigotry and prejudice wherever they appear, but we will make no progress and heal no wounds by falsely labelling tens of millions of decent Americans as racist or bigots.”

The administration’s policing proposals fall well short of those embraced by Democrats in congress who are moving forward with reform legislation that could come to a vote by July 4 in the House of Representatives. Republicans, who control the Senate, are working on a separate proposal.

Mr Trump also said his administration wanted to foster economic development in minority communities, address healthcare disparities by race and provide more school choice.

After his remarks in Dallas, the President headed to his first campaign fundraiser since the COVID-19 lockdown began — a $US580,600 per couple event. Then he flies to his golf course resort in New Jersey for the weekend, another post-COVID first.

Next Friday he will restart his mothballed series of rallies in Tusla, Oklahoma.

The choice of Texas for Friday’s trip was notable because the state — Republican for decades — is turning in to a battleground. Mr Trump won narrowly in 2016 and a Quinnipiac poll last week put him only a percentage point ahead of Democrat nominee Joe Biden.

In 2016, polls and politics watchers got it wrong about Mr Trump, who ran a chaotic campaign against the ultra-professional Hillary Clinton yet still scored a famous electoral college win. This has left many election watchers gun-shy. Even so, current polls make grim reading for the Republican.

The FiveThirtyEight average shows Mr Trump’s approval rating at just 41 per cent, having taken a big hit from his handling of the COVID-19 and racism crises. The RealClearPolitics average for a presidential election match-up puts Mr Biden at 49.8 to Mr Trump’s 41.7. Worse for Mr Trump — given his hope of repeating his electoral college win, even if losing the popular vote — Mr Biden leads in almost every swing state.

Reuters, AFP

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/donald-trump-says-police-face-reform-up-to-a-point/news-story/a5d70770426d7f6ac40836bedd440a95