Trump Falsely Claims Biden Allies Like Kamala Harris Support ‘Defund the Police’ to ‘Totally Destroy’ Police Departments
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President Donald Trump posted a message falsely claiming that a long list of Joe Biden “allies” support “defunding the police,” and added “They want to totally destroy our great Police Departments. No way!!!”
During Trump’s regularly-scheduled Saturday morning tweetstorm, he posted a Trump campaign message featuring the false claim, along with the false caption “They want to totally destroy our great Police Departments. No way!!!”
They want to totally destroy our great Police Departments. No way!!! https://t.co/pN1azBRVT5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2020
The graphic features a long list of elected officials and — for some mysterious reason — one pop star who just happens to be black, and who is identified in the graphic as “John Legend (Bad Performer and Biden Surrogate).”
Also on the list are California Senator and top VP contender Kamala Harris, as well as: “Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) Brian Fallon (Former Obama Admin. Official).”
Without going through the entire list, the inclusion of Senator Harris renders the attack false, since she has consistently called for police reform, and explicitly said that “does not mean we get rid of police, of course not.”
Senator Booker has also explicitly said that funding other community priorities and police funding “is not a zero sum game, pulling the dollar from one place, putting it in the other.”
The graphic also lists prominent Bernie Sanders supporters who have routinely trashed Biden as “allies.”
And Biden himself has repeatedly said he does not support defunding the police, while tarring Mr. Trump as a liar for suggesting otherwise. In fact, Biden has proposed $300 million in additional funding for police reform.
