Published 12:12 IST, June 3rd 2020
Republicans pick side as US Senate blocks resolution condemning Trump's tear-gas photo op
US Senate blocked a resolution condemning President Donald Trump for ordering the use of tear gas and force against the protestors outside the White House
The US Senate on Tuesday blocked a resolution condemning President Donald Trump for ordering the use of tear gas and force against the protestors outside the White House a day earlier. In a shocking scene captured live on television, police cleared Lafayette Park so Trump could walk to nearby St. John’s Church and pose with a Bible, eventually holding it upside-down.
The protestors were exposed to tear gas and fired at with rubber bullets by the police.
Senate blocks measure condemning Trump
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, on the floor of the House said, "Justice for black Americans in the face of unjust violence, and peace for our country in the face of looting, riots, and domestic terror. Those are the two issues Americans want addressed. Unfortunately, this resolution from my friend the Democratic leader does not address either one of them. Instead, it just indulges in the myopic obsession with President Trump that has come to define the Democratic side of the aisle. Outside of the Washington, D.C., bubble, there is no universe where Americans think Democrats' obsession with condemning President."
However, some Senate Republicans did independently criticise the President's actions. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, said Trump’s visit to the church was unhelpful and not something Scott would have done. “Obviously, if your question is, should you use tear gas to clear a path so the president can go have a photo-op, the answer is no,” Scott told Politico Tuesday, while noting he did not personally see the incident.
The House Democrats tried to pass measures criticizing President Trump's actions by a unanimous vote. However, that was blocked by McConnell.
The Democrats, on the other hand, blocked a proposal by McConnell which condemned violent protests and a pattern of police violence against black Americans but lacked any criticism of the President.
Updated 12:12 IST, June 3rd 2020