Published 11:47 IST, June 29th 2020
Donald Trump retweets then deletes a video of supporters yelling 'white power'
US President Donald Trump retweeted and then deleted a video showing his supporters yelling “white power” on June 28 amid protests over racial injustice.
US President Donald Trump retweeted and then deleted a video showing his supporters yelling “white power” on June 28 amid protests over racial injustice in the country. Not only did the 45th US President promoted the video but also thanked the “great people of The Villages”. Taking it as another opportunity to target the “radical left” and “do nothing Democrats”, Trump said that they will “Fall in the Fall”. He also called the Democratic nominee for November elections and the former US Vice President Joe Biden “corrupt” who is “shot”.
The two-minute-long video shows Trump’s supporters and opponents indulging in a war of words while also abusing and swearing at one another. The Republican US President’s supporters can be seen on a golf cart raising a clenched fist and then shouting “white power”. It appeared that he was responding to protesters on the road while other anti-Trump demonstrators shouted “Nazi” amid other accusations. According to international media reports, the only black Republican in the US Senate Tim Scott called the video “offensive” and urged the US President to remove his tweet.
Trump ‘should not have retweeted it’
In an interview with CNN, Scott confessed that “there’s no question” that Donald Trump should not have retweeted it and must take it down. Moreover, defending Trump, White House spokesperson Judd Deere reportedly said that the US President ‘did not hear the one statement made on the video’ instead, he saw the ‘tremendous enthusiasm’ from his supporters. In a separate interview, US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar noted that neither Donald Trump nor his administration would do anything to be supportive of white supremacy.
The US President has been previously accused of sharing ‘racist’ content such as back in 2017 when he retweeted three provocative clips from a far-right group in the UK which was then met with a rebuke from then British Prime Minister Theresa May. However, recently, amid the Black Lives Matter protests in the country, Donald Trump boasted about doing the more for the Black population than any other US President except Abraham Lincoln. Trump has said that “it’s a shame” he even has to ask for the black community to support his reelection in 2020.
Image credit: AP
Updated 11:47 IST, June 29th 2020