In an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Monday, President Trump compared police officers shooting people with golfers “choking” in a tournament and “jumping a three-foot putt.”
Speaking of police officers killed on duty in recent days, the president told Ingraham “the police are under siege because of things – they can do 10,000 great deeds, which is what they do, and a bad apple or a choker, you know. , a choker, choke, “Trump said.
“Shoot the guy from behind many times,” he continued, “I mean, couldn’t you have done something different? Couldn’t you have fought him? You know, I mean, in the meantime, he might have been looking for a weapon and you know, c ‘is a great thing there. “
“But they choke,” the president continued. “Just like in a golf tournament, they miss a three-foot putt.”
“You’re not comparing it to golf because of course that’s what the media will say,” Ingraham said.
“No, I’m saying people choke,” the president replied. “People choke. And people are bad people. You have both. You have some bad people and you have – they choke. You can be a police officer for 15 years and suddenly you are confronted. You have a quarter of a second to make a decision. If you don’t make the decision and you’re wrong, you’re dead. People choke under those circumstances and make a wrong decision. “
Mr. Trump said there are “bad police” but also “thousands and thousands of great acts, and one bad one, and you make the evening news for weeks.”
Mr. Trump’s mention of shooting a man “many times in the back” appears to be a reference to the police shooting Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Blake was shot in the back seven times by a police officer on 23 August. He survived and was hospitalized. Family attorney Benjamin Crump said last week that he is now paralyzed.
The shooting sparked widespread protests and during a demonstration in Kenosha last week, a gunman opened fire, killing two people. Mr. Trump refused to sue Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old white hitman accused of killing two people during the protests.
Mr. Trump suggested to reporters Monday that Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense and that he “probably would have been killed” if he hadn’t fired his gun.
The president is visiting Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, despite objections from local officials who expressed concern that his visit could further increase tensions.
The president said Monday that he is not visiting Blake’s family in Kenosha because they wanted to involve their legal team, which he said was “inappropriate”.
“At one point I could do it, but they had a lawyer who wanted to be on the phone and I said no. It’s not appropriate, but I just gave my best regards,” Trump said.
The president, on the other hand, plans to inspect properties damaged during the protests and visit an “emergency operations center” at a local high school, according to the White House.
Grace Segers contributed to this report.
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