Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has branded himself a leader of “law and order” and hopes to use that personality to win the support of some of the nation’s largest police unions before the election of November.
Trump planned on Monday to deliver his speech to the National Association of Police Organizations on why the group should back him on alleged Democratic nominee Joe Biden. While NAPO did not endorse a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, it did endorse President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 in large part because Biden was on the ballot.
But after the attacks, law enforcement was affected by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, and like many Democrats, they are pressuring their alleged presidential candidate, Joe Biden, to adopt a more progressive agenda, Trump hopes to secure the support of police unions across the country as he seeks to regain ground, he has lost his Democratic rival in the polls.
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“Our officers have been under cruel assault,” Trump said Monday during a roundtable discussion with people whose lives have been positively impacted by police. “Reckless politicians have slandered our heroes as enemies … These radical politicians want to vanish and abolish the police.”
Trump added: “My administration is pro security, pro police and anti crime.”
An endorsement by Trump’s NAPO would also not be unthinkable, as the president adopted law enforcement all his time in the Oval Office and won the endorsement of the Fraternal Police Order, a 330,000-member police union, during his career at the White House in 2016.
The Trump campaign has recently been actively working to erode police support for Biden and describe the alleged nominee as closely aligned with Democrats’ progressive calls to underfund police agencies.
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While the Biden campaign has strongly opposed the idea of abolishing police departments, the candidate said some funds should be “absolutely” redirected by the police.
In a Now This interview with activist Ady Barkan, the alleged Democratic candidate said police forces do not need surplus military equipment, saying this is what leads them to “become the enemy” in a community.
Biden campaign Rapid Response Director Andrew Bates said last month that the former vice president supports “the urgent need for reform,” which he says includes “funding for public schools, summer programs and mental health treatment and Substance Abuse Other Than Police Surveillance Funds: So Officers Can Focus On Surveillance Work. “
Biden’s campaign has signaled the former vice president’s criminal justice plan, which proposes an additional $ 300 million for community policing. Bates said the funding “would improve relations between officers and residents” and “would provide the necessary training to avoid tragic and unjustifiable deaths.”
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Despite Biden’s efforts to align himself with both protesters and the police, some police unions appear to be reconsidering their support amid concerns that he has embraced “anti-police rhetoric.”
“Joe Biden was a strong advocate for them years ago, and has now been kidnapped by anti-police rhetoric,” Paul Digiacomo, president of the Detective Endowment Association, told Fox Business. “There is a big question among our members if Joe Biden is going to stand up and support the police.”
And while NAPO has not said who they will endorse, to be announced Wednesday, union leaders appear to be doubting their past embrace of the former vice president.
“For Joe Biden, the police are shaking their heads because he used to be a standing man who supported the police,” said Bill Johnson, the group’s executive director. “But it seems that in his old age, for some reason, he is writing a sad final chapter when it comes to supporting law enforcement.”
Fox News’ Morgan News contributed to this report.
