‘There is no right to riot, no right to destroy others’ property, and no right to throw rocks at police. But there is a fundamental—a Constitutional—right to protest…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., called President Donald Trump’s visit on Monday to Washington, DC’s St. John’s Church a “photo op” and criticized him for treating “the Word of God as a political prop.”
Sasse, a notorious NeverTrumper from early on, also called on rational Americans to find middle ground in supporting social-justice for black victims like George Floyd and denouncing the politically motivated riots, largely being driven by paid Antifa activists to sow chaos and anarchy.
“Say both things loudly and repeatedly as Americans work to end the violence and injustice,” Sasse said in a statement Tuesday.
Sen. @BenSasse issues statement criticizing the clearing of protesters for Pres. Trump’s photo at St John’s Church: pic.twitter.com/G1SZZ3gq1b
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) June 2, 2020
Trump appeared to walk defiantly past protestors to the historic Episcopal church which is only a short distance from the White House across Lafayette Square.
According to many reports, however, the protestors had largely been cleared from the square a half-hour prior to the city’s 7 p.m. curfew to allow Trump to safely make the trek.
The night prior to the president’s visit, rioters had set fire to the park and injured some 50 Secret Service members. Trump had reportedly been taken to a bunker in an undisclosed location as chaos consumed the city and many others nationwide.
Liberals, never wont for an opportunity to bash the president, pounced on Sasse’s statement to suggest that even his own party was defecting, despite Sasse’s long history of breaking rank with the GOP establishment.
Some of the president’s allies have been critical of what seems to be a muted response to the latest crisis, on the heels of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and other unprecedented political attacks.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who credited himself with being the person who swayed Trump to take the coronavirus seriously, criticized the president for being too much under the influence of his liberal son-in-law Jared Kushner in backing down on his campaign pledge to be a “law-and-order” proponent.
Yet, once again during the highly unusual election year, Trump finds himself in a no-win situation, forced to navigate the choppy waters where he will either be hammered by his adversaries for cracking down on the protests or for letting them happen.
Former Hollywood sitcom star Debra Messing, no stranger to sticking her foot in her mouth, was among those who tried to slam Trump for being too autocratic in his rhetoric, even though he has left the individual state leaders to handle much of the protest response thus far.
Messing retweeted a Photoshop-altered picture of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler holding a Bible juxtaposed next to one of Trump during his church visit.
A dog whistle to white nationalists and Nazis. pic.twitter.com/FXnOGlkwjc
— Debra Messing✍? (@DebraMessing) June 2, 2020