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Trump's Remarks in a Meeting with the National Association of Police Organizations Leadership
REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump in a Meeting with the National Association of Police Organizations Leadership
LAW & JUSTICE
Issued on: July 31, 2020
Cabinet Room
11:54 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: I’m pleased to welcome the leaders and friends of mine, in many cases, of the National Association of Police Organizations. We have some of the great, great police representatives in the country here. Maybe the best, I would say, Pat. What do you think?
MR. LYNCH: I’d have to agree, Mr. President.
{snip}
So Homeland Security has done a fantastic job. I appreciate it. Chad Wolf and the entire team have been fantastic. And it seems to be cleaning up. And if it doesn’t clean up, we’re going to do something very, very powerful, because we have no choice. Not that I want to do it; I don’t want to do it. But we have no choice.
In recent weeks, law enforcement has become the target of a dangerous assault by the radical left. The leftwing extremists have spread mayhem throughout the streets of different cities, in particular, Portland. If you look, Portland is one. Seattle, really, would be another.
And we were getting ready to go into Seattle. We would have solved that problem very quickly. When they heard that we were going in, they went in. And by that time, the anarchists were exhausted and they just raised their hand. They were exhausted and tired, and they had a lot of drugs and a lot of alcohol, and they just gave up. They just raised their hands. They were sleeping there long enough. They took over, actually, a piece of Seattle, if you can believe that — Seattle being a major city. And they took over a piece.
So we were ready to go into Seattle; everyone knows that. We were going to go in with force, and we didn’t have to because, the day before, we were going in — and we let them know. The day before we were going in, this is what happens: They went in, and the anarchists and agitators gave up, and they gave it back.
Joe Biden has pledged to cut police funding — and you do know about that, Mick, I assume. Right?
MR. MCHALE: I do, sir. Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: You’ve heard that little rumor?
This guy has been dragged so far left. Biden has been taken further left than Bernie ever was. Bernie was never this. I mean, totally open borders, and the sanctuary city stuff that — he’s approving things that Bernie never thought of. It was supposed to be, they were going to take him right. They took Biden way left of where Bernie was because they have the manifesto. I don’t know, have you seen the manifesto they’ve got?
MR. MCHALE: Yes, sir.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mick. No, that was very controversial, and the previous administration didn’t want to do that.
We had hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment — really good military equipment, good stuff. And a lot of it was protective. It was defensive equipment, where — like, vehicles that are very strong in terms of defense capability, where you wouldn’t get hurt; where the windows are, you know, shatterproof, et cetera, and bulletproof.
And we gave that out to our police departments. It was sitting there gaining dust. That was the only thing it was gaining, was dust. And we gave that out to all of our police departments all over the country. And you have no idea: Every place — every time I go someplace, the police thank me for that.
MR. MCHALE: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: This is stuff that was just getting less and less valuable. Much of it was brand new, but getting less and less valuable, sitting in warehouses. Probably the government was paying a lot of rent to the warehouses. And, yeah, it’s — it’s been a great — it’s been a great thing.
So as a result of the outrageous attacks on law enforcement, violent crime has surged in certain Democrat-run cities. Many of them. I mean, you look at New York: It’s up 348 percent. Who ever heard of a number like that? Because you have a radical-left mayor who doesn’t know what he’s doing. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. I don’t understand even how the police could allow it to happen. That’s the only thing. We talk about that.
{snip}
MR. KOVAR: And, Mr. President, I never understood what “fake news” was until you said it all the time, and I can’t believe how bad fake news is, as you say all the time.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. No, I’ve said it. And I’ve learned — I — I thought it was fake before I got here, but not as bad as it is.
MR. KOVAR: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: It’s really a — it’s a tragedy what they — what they’re able to report or not report. You know, what they don’t report is, in many ways, even worse.
MR. KOVAR: Yes, sir.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, if we could ask you, specifically: We heard yesterday you were — your frustrations about how long it’ll take to count the ballots here. Then why aren’t you spending more energy to get the resources and the funding
for the states that they want to be able to secure
this election for all Americans?
THE PRESIDENT: Peter, you know nothing about my energy. Okay?
Q What are you doing, specifically?
THE PRESIDENT: You know nothing about what I’m doing.
Q What are you doing?
THE PRESIDENT: Listen, you know nothing about what I do.
Q The Americans are listening: What are you doing?
THE PRESIDENT: So, on NBC — I just told you about the false report that NBC put out the other night about the mayor of Portland. And this is the kind of stuff you get.
You’ll see what happens. And it’s common sense. Everyone knows mail-in ballots are a disaster. You just have to take a look at the last recent — take a look at New York City. Look at New York, they’re still counting your ballots, Pat.
MR. LYNCH: Yeah.
THE PRESIDENT: Do you know that?
Mr. LYNCH: That’s right.
THE PRESIDENT: They had a race, a small race, by comparison — by comparison, tiny. It’s so messed up; they have no idea. There are ballots missing — thousands and thousands of ballots are missing. They think they’re going to send hundreds of millions of ballots all over the United States, and it’s going to come out. You won’t know the election result for weeks, months, maybe years after. Maybe you’ll never know the election result, and that’s what I’m concerned with. It’ll be fixed. It’ll be rigged. People ought to get smart. And I just hope our Republican voters, the people that are for you, are going to do what they have to do.
Absentee ballots are great, because absentee ballots — you have to go through a process to get them and it’s — it’s actually a great thing. Absentee ballots. I’m going to be voting absentee. An absentee ballot is one thing. A universal mail-in ballot is a disaster. These governors are going to send out millions of ballots. They don’t even know where they’re sending them. I already have friends that got ballots for a son who died seven years ago. When they get — you don’t even want to talk about it.
But the media knows this. Actually, the Washington Post wrote a great article — of all groups. A week ago, the Washington Post wrote a great article that this is a disaster. This is going to be the greatest election disaster in history.
And, by the way, you guys like to talk about Russia and China and other places? They’ll be able to forge ballots. They’ll forge them. They’ll do whatever they have to do. People should go and they should vote or do an absentee ballot.
Q So what are you doing to secure it?
Q The military predominantly votes —
THE PRESIDENT: Say it. Say it.
Q The military predominantly votes by mail or absentee.
THE PRESIDENT: Absentee.
Q And so —
THE PRESIDENT: You didn’t understand me. I said absentee ballots are actually a very good thing.
Q They’re the same.
THE PRESIDENT: Absentee ballots are secure, and they’re very good. But universal mail-in are a disaster. You’re going to see an election that — and we’re going to do very well in the election. Nobody wants that date more than me. I wish we would move it up. Okay? Move it up. But you’re not prepared for what they’re doing.
And they’re using COVID. You know, they’re using the China virus. China must be very happy about it, because they hit us with a virus, and now they screw up an election like you — you will never see. You watch what happens. I don’t think you’ll ever give me any statement, “I guess Trump was right.” But the people know I’m right. Watch what happens.
New York City has a little election — we just talked — you go see. Do you know how far — they’re going to — they’re never going to have the result in that election. Never the correct result. They’ll probably announce something at some point. But when did that take place — like five, six weeks ago.
Absentee ballots: great. Going to the polls: great. If you do universal mail-ins with millions and millions of ballots, you’re never going to know what the real — the real result of an election is. It’s going to be a very, very sad day for our country.
Go ahead.
Q Sir, if — if the system is a disaster, as you say, why not commit to putting in resources to fix it?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, we’re doing — we’re putting in all the resources you can. But as a couple of the radical-left people said, you know — who actually agree with me — they said, “No matter what you do, we’re not prepared for this.” They’re not prepared for an onslaught of millions of ballots pouring in. They’re not prepared. They’re not prepared.
You watch. They’re not going to announce anything on November 3rd. They’re not going to announce it on the 4th or the 5th or the 6th. It’ll go on forever.
People should go — you know, they voted, Mick, during World War One. They voted during World War Two. They went to the polls; they voted. They went to their booth, and they voted proudly. But now, with COVID, they don’t want to vote.
It’s not they don’t want to vote, it — this will be catastrophic for our nation. And you’ll see it. I’m always right about things like this. I guess I must be or I wouldn’t be sitting here.
But yes, Jennifer, go ahead. You want something? Jennifer, did you want —
Q No, that’s all right.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, please, in the back.
Q Mr. President, what is your decision to delay the — the decision to delay the election in Hong Kong? What is your — or is your opinion or what do you think about that?
THE PRESIDENT: I want to — I want to right now focus on this election. I’ll have a statement about that soon. I heard that, that they did the delay in Hong Kong. And we’ll have a statement about that, but I want to focus on this.
Okay, thank you very much everybody. Thank you very much.
END
12:43 P.M. EDT
Remarks by President Trump in a Meeting with the National Association of Police Organizations Leadership
LAW & JUSTICE
Issued on: July 31, 2020
Cabinet Room
11:54 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: I’m pleased to welcome the leaders and friends of mine, in many cases, of the National Association of Police Organizations. We have some of the great, great police representatives in the country here. Maybe the best, I would say, Pat. What do you think?
MR. LYNCH: I’d have to agree, Mr. President.
{snip}
So Homeland Security has done a fantastic job. I appreciate it. Chad Wolf and the entire team have been fantastic. And it seems to be cleaning up. And if it doesn’t clean up, we’re going to do something very, very powerful, because we have no choice. Not that I want to do it; I don’t want to do it. But we have no choice.
In recent weeks, law enforcement has become the target of a dangerous assault by the radical left. The leftwing extremists have spread mayhem throughout the streets of different cities, in particular, Portland. If you look, Portland is one. Seattle, really, would be another.
And we were getting ready to go into Seattle. We would have solved that problem very quickly. When they heard that we were going in, they went in. And by that time, the anarchists were exhausted and they just raised their hand. They were exhausted and tired, and they had a lot of drugs and a lot of alcohol, and they just gave up. They just raised their hands. They were sleeping there long enough. They took over, actually, a piece of Seattle, if you can believe that — Seattle being a major city. And they took over a piece.
So we were ready to go into Seattle; everyone knows that. We were going to go in with force, and we didn’t have to because, the day before, we were going in — and we let them know. The day before we were going in, this is what happens: They went in, and the anarchists and agitators gave up, and they gave it back.
Joe Biden has pledged to cut police funding — and you do know about that, Mick, I assume. Right?
MR. MCHALE: I do, sir. Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: You’ve heard that little rumor?
This guy has been dragged so far left. Biden has been taken further left than Bernie ever was. Bernie was never this. I mean, totally open borders, and the sanctuary city stuff that — he’s approving things that Bernie never thought of. It was supposed to be, they were going to take him right. They took Biden way left of where Bernie was because they have the manifesto. I don’t know, have you seen the manifesto they’ve got?
MR. MCHALE: Yes, sir.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mick. No, that was very controversial, and the previous administration didn’t want to do that.
We had hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment — really good military equipment, good stuff. And a lot of it was protective. It was defensive equipment, where — like, vehicles that are very strong in terms of defense capability, where you wouldn’t get hurt; where the windows are, you know, shatterproof, et cetera, and bulletproof.
And we gave that out to our police departments. It was sitting there gaining dust. That was the only thing it was gaining, was dust. And we gave that out to all of our police departments all over the country. And you have no idea: Every place — every time I go someplace, the police thank me for that.
MR. MCHALE: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: This is stuff that was just getting less and less valuable. Much of it was brand new, but getting less and less valuable, sitting in warehouses. Probably the government was paying a lot of rent to the warehouses. And, yeah, it’s — it’s been a great — it’s been a great thing.
So as a result of the outrageous attacks on law enforcement, violent crime has surged in certain Democrat-run cities. Many of them. I mean, you look at New York: It’s up 348 percent. Who ever heard of a number like that? Because you have a radical-left mayor who doesn’t know what he’s doing. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. I don’t understand even how the police could allow it to happen. That’s the only thing. We talk about that.
{snip}
MR. KOVAR: And, Mr. President, I never understood what “fake news” was until you said it all the time, and I can’t believe how bad fake news is, as you say all the time.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. No, I’ve said it. And I’ve learned — I — I thought it was fake before I got here, but not as bad as it is.
MR. KOVAR: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: It’s really a — it’s a tragedy what they — what they’re able to report or not report. You know, what they don’t report is, in many ways, even worse.
MR. KOVAR: Yes, sir.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, if we could ask you, specifically: We heard yesterday you were — your frustrations about how long it’ll take to count the ballots here. Then why aren’t you spending more energy to get the resources and the funding
for the states that they want to be able to secure
this election for all Americans?
THE PRESIDENT: Peter, you know nothing about my energy. Okay?
Q What are you doing, specifically?
THE PRESIDENT: You know nothing about what I’m doing.
Q What are you doing?
THE PRESIDENT: Listen, you know nothing about what I do.
Q The Americans are listening: What are you doing?
THE PRESIDENT: So, on NBC — I just told you about the false report that NBC put out the other night about the mayor of Portland. And this is the kind of stuff you get.
You’ll see what happens. And it’s common sense. Everyone knows mail-in ballots are a disaster. You just have to take a look at the last recent — take a look at New York City. Look at New York, they’re still counting your ballots, Pat.
MR. LYNCH: Yeah.
THE PRESIDENT: Do you know that?
Mr. LYNCH: That’s right.
THE PRESIDENT: They had a race, a small race, by comparison — by comparison, tiny. It’s so messed up; they have no idea. There are ballots missing — thousands and thousands of ballots are missing. They think they’re going to send hundreds of millions of ballots all over the United States, and it’s going to come out. You won’t know the election result for weeks, months, maybe years after. Maybe you’ll never know the election result, and that’s what I’m concerned with. It’ll be fixed. It’ll be rigged. People ought to get smart. And I just hope our Republican voters, the people that are for you, are going to do what they have to do.
Absentee ballots are great, because absentee ballots — you have to go through a process to get them and it’s — it’s actually a great thing. Absentee ballots. I’m going to be voting absentee. An absentee ballot is one thing. A universal mail-in ballot is a disaster. These governors are going to send out millions of ballots. They don’t even know where they’re sending them. I already have friends that got ballots for a son who died seven years ago. When they get — you don’t even want to talk about it.
But the media knows this. Actually, the Washington Post wrote a great article — of all groups. A week ago, the Washington Post wrote a great article that this is a disaster. This is going to be the greatest election disaster in history.
And, by the way, you guys like to talk about Russia and China and other places? They’ll be able to forge ballots. They’ll forge them. They’ll do whatever they have to do. People should go and they should vote or do an absentee ballot.
Q So what are you doing to secure it?
Q The military predominantly votes —
THE PRESIDENT: Say it. Say it.
Q The military predominantly votes by mail or absentee.
THE PRESIDENT: Absentee.
Q And so —
THE PRESIDENT: You didn’t understand me. I said absentee ballots are actually a very good thing.
Q They’re the same.
THE PRESIDENT: Absentee ballots are secure, and they’re very good. But universal mail-in are a disaster. You’re going to see an election that — and we’re going to do very well in the election. Nobody wants that date more than me. I wish we would move it up. Okay? Move it up. But you’re not prepared for what they’re doing.
And they’re using COVID. You know, they’re using the China virus. China must be very happy about it, because they hit us with a virus, and now they screw up an election like you — you will never see. You watch what happens. I don’t think you’ll ever give me any statement, “I guess Trump was right.” But the people know I’m right. Watch what happens.
New York City has a little election — we just talked — you go see. Do you know how far — they’re going to — they’re never going to have the result in that election. Never the correct result. They’ll probably announce something at some point. But when did that take place — like five, six weeks ago.
Absentee ballots: great. Going to the polls: great. If you do universal mail-ins with millions and millions of ballots, you’re never going to know what the real — the real result of an election is. It’s going to be a very, very sad day for our country.
Go ahead.
Q Sir, if — if the system is a disaster, as you say, why not commit to putting in resources to fix it?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, we’re doing — we’re putting in all the resources you can. But as a couple of the radical-left people said, you know — who actually agree with me — they said, “No matter what you do, we’re not prepared for this.” They’re not prepared for an onslaught of millions of ballots pouring in. They’re not prepared. They’re not prepared.
You watch. They’re not going to announce anything on November 3rd. They’re not going to announce it on the 4th or the 5th or the 6th. It’ll go on forever.
People should go — you know, they voted, Mick, during World War One. They voted during World War Two. They went to the polls; they voted. They went to their booth, and they voted proudly. But now, with COVID, they don’t want to vote.
It’s not they don’t want to vote, it — this will be catastrophic for our nation. And you’ll see it. I’m always right about things like this. I guess I must be or I wouldn’t be sitting here.
But yes, Jennifer, go ahead. You want something? Jennifer, did you want —
Q No, that’s all right.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, please, in the back.
Q Mr. President, what is your decision to delay the — the decision to delay the election in Hong Kong? What is your — or is your opinion or what do you think about that?
THE PRESIDENT: I want to — I want to right now focus on this election. I’ll have a statement about that soon. I heard that, that they did the delay in Hong Kong. And we’ll have a statement about that, but I want to focus on this.
Okay, thank you very much everybody. Thank you very much.
END
12:43 P.M. EDT
2 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
