National Association of Police Organizations endorses Trump for his 'very public support' of cops amid protests
President Donald Trump has strongly stood in support of the police forces in the country at a time when people were demanding to defund and disband law-keeping bodies across the US in the wake of the brutal death of George Floyd in police custody. Trump's favor was returned on July 15 when National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) officially endorsed the incumbent president’s re-election campaign.
"Our endorsement recognizes your steadfast and very public support for our men and women on the front lines, especially during this time of unfair and inaccurate opprobrium being directed at our members by so many," NAPO chief Michael McHale said in a statement, Newsweek reported.
NAPO appreciates Trump's strong measures to defend police
The statement also praised Trump for asking Attorney General William Barr to take strong action against people who target police officers, signing the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act and supporting Project Safe Neighborhoods program for reducing violent crimes, among others.
The NAPO, which claims to represent at least 1,000 police units and 241,000 law-enforcement officers across the country, decided to endorse the president at a time when the nation is seeing protests against police brutality. The protesters have sought greater transparency and accountability in the police officers' conduct and channelizing of funds meant for the police departments into other social services so that crime rate is brought under control. A number of cities, including New York, have moved towards slashing police funds while Minneapolis, where Floyd died on May 25, has even decided to move towards abolishing the police department itself.
POTUS and his aides have tried to project Trump as a leader who stands tall for law and order and his likely opponent Joe Biden as someone weak on the issue of crime. The president has attacked the protesters and his political opponents in the wake of the pro-Black demonstrations and even came close to deploying the military in the national capital to quell them. He has also been critical of the drive to topple statues of late leaders throughout the country and signed an executive order last month seeking strict punishment for those who commit such acts.
In a speech on June 6, Trump said: "We must maintain law and order at the highest level, or we will cease to have a country — 100 percent." The same weekend, he targeted Biden and the Democrats and tweeted: "Sleepy Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats want to 'DEFUND THE POLICE'. I want great and well paid LAW ENFORCEMENT. I want LAW & ORDER!" The Biden campaign, on the other hand, did find itself in a spot while defending itself against the president’s claims. It said the former vice president is in favor of police reforms but not complete defunding of law-enforcement personnel across the country.
In a Hill-HarrisX survey that came out earlier this month, nearly 68 percent of American voters said they back the police over the job they are doing. But the number came down to only 26 percent when only the Black voters were taken into consideration and went up to 77 percent when only the Whites responded, suggesting the wide racial divide that exists over how the police are being perceived.
Besides Floyd, some other Black individuals like Elijah McCain, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks have also died at the hands of the cops in recent times, adding fuel to the anti-cops protests.