I say it’s time to end these clowns’ political careers. How about you?
BERLIN, N.H. — The Republican primary’s scramble to the right has led to pointed criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement, and of the Obama administration’s approach to police reform. After Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) criticized the president for “vilifying” law enforcement, other candidates found reasons to blame Democrats for an atmosphere where protesters could chant threats to police.
“In the last six years under President Obama, we’ve seen a rise in anti-police rhetoric,” wrote Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) in an op-ed this week. “Instead of hope and change, we’ve seen racial tensions worsen and a tendency to use law enforcement as a scapegoat. This kind of attitude has created a culture in which we all too often see demonstrations and chants where people describe police as ‘pigs’ and call for them to be ‘fried like bacon.’”
That comment was quickly endorsed by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.), who did not go quite as far as Cruz or Walker, pointedly declared a Sept. 14 “day of prayer” for law enforcement.
But the other two sitting governors seeking the White House, both from diverse and urban states, resisted the pressure. At a Wednesday morning campaign stop in Hooksett, N.H., Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) faced a question about “political correctness” from Marc Miville, a city councilor. “A cop is getting killed every day,” Miville said.
Kasich responded by joking that he’d “never been accused of political correctness,” and by briefly describing the work he’d done in Ohio to connect police to community leaders. After the event, Miville told the Washington Post that he was seriously concerned by the political embrace of “Black Lives Matter” activists.
…
On Thursday, after a campaign stop in Littleton, N.H., Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) told The Washington Post that rhetoric was not a factor in the attacks on police.
Read more: Washington Post
