Piers Morgan suggests Trump take the knee with protesters but says 'he's completely incapable of doing it'
Piers Morgan has called for US President Donald Trump taking the knee amid nationwide protests following the May 25 death of Geroge Floyd. The 46-year-old Floyd died last week while in police custody as an officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.
Morgan and his co-host Susanna Reid were joined by Martin Luther King III on June 3's ‘Good Morning Britain’ show, as they discussed the protests across US. They also discussed Trump's warnings that he would send in the military. “He’s completely incapable of doing what I’m about to suggest,” Morgan said as he started. “Imagine if Donald Trump, rather than stirring the fire and pouring fuel on it, imagine if he came out the White House with those protestors and went down on one knee.”
Continuing, the 55-year-old journalist said: “Imagine the power of Donald Trump doing that and the impact that might have in one action. I genuinely believe he could make an enormous difference.” Agreeing with the show host, Luther added, “There is no question about that.”
According to reports, the inspiration to take the knee comes from the action of American football star Colin Kaepernick, who in 2016 knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality. Though Kaepernick's silent kneeling protest arguably saw him lose his NFL career, it inspired many including a number of police officers who have been seen following the action and demonstrating their solidarity alongside those protesting.
It has been reported that people in Britain have also been urged to ‘take the knee’ on their doorsteps today to show solidarity with activists in America.
This was not the first time Morgan slammed Trump and earlier also, he called him “cowardly”. In a column for Mail Online, the broadcaster wrote: “President Trump had one job to do after this terrible killing — and that was to heal the raging wounds of fellow Americans”. He also said that the president should have addressed the people of the nation “with love, and respect, and empathy,” and that he should have assured them that he “would do everything in his power to stop more black people like George Floyd being killed by the very people protecting their lives.”
However, Trump took the opposite road, threatening to send in the military to stop growing civil unrest across the nation. He also said that he will soon officially declare the anti-fascist protest movement Antifa as a terrorist organization.
“It’s just not good enough for white people like me to watch George Floyd die, shake our heads and say how awful it is, rant about the looters, then turn away and get on with our comparatively privileged lives. This is a wake-up moment for all of us,” Morgan added.
Meanwhile, another report claimed that Spike Lee has recently severely criticized Trump and labeled him a ‘gangster’ in response to the current protests in the US. The film-maker told BBC that Americans are angry because they "live every day in this world where the system is not set up for you to win". Lee also added that Trump's response showed that "he's a gangster, he's trying to be a dictator".