Donald Trump says police need chokeholds if they are ‘fighting’ a ‘real bad person’ as he punts on a total ban on technique that killed George Floyd
- President Trump suggested Friday that police may need to use chokeholds if they’re up against a ‘real bad person’ in a ‘bad scuffle’
- He told Fox News Channel’s Harris Faulkner that ‘generally speaking’ the practice should be ended
- But then Trump outlined a scenario in which police may need to use the maneuver that killed George Floyd
President Trump suggested that police may need to use chokeholds if they’re in a life-or-death squirmish with a ‘real bad person,’ he told Fox News Channel’s Harris Faulkner.
Before Trump got to his point that ‘generally speaking, it should be ended’ he outlined a scenario in which a cop was fighting, wrestling and in a ‘bad scuffle’ with a ‘tough’ and ‘very bad person’ – and in that case, might need to deploy the move that killed George Floyd.
‘And you get somebody in a chokehold and what do you do now? Let go and say, “Oh, let’s start all over again, I’m not allowed to have you in a chokehold,”‘ the president imagined. ‘It’s a tough situation.’
President Trump said that while ‘generally speaking’ the practice of chokeholds ‘should be ended,’ he outlined a scenario in which a police officer was in a ‘bad scuffle’ with a ‘very bad person’ and the maneuver might be needed
President Trump (left) sat down with Fox News Channel’s Harris Faulkner (right) and discussed his views on chokeholds, the maneuver police officer Derek Chauvin used that killed George Floyd, a Minneapolis black man
Chokeholds are being banned in police forces across the nation after the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, who was kneed in the neck by officer Derek Chauvin
Police departments across the U.S. are deciding whether to ban chokeholds after Floyd, a black Minneapolis man, was killed by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, on Memorial Day.
Video footage of Floyd’s death went viral as Chauvin was captured putting his knee on Floyd’s neck, leaving him incapacitated.
‘I don’t like chokeholds,’ Trump said when first asked about the maneuver by Faulkner.
But he didn’t stop there.
‘I will say this, as somebody that, you know, you grow up and you wrestle and you fight. Or you see what happens. Sometimes, if you’re alone and you’re fighting somebody who’s tough … and it’s a real bad person,’ Trump said, before segueing to explaining that he believes bad people exist.
‘And they do exist, I mean we have some real bad people,’ the president said. ‘You saw that during the last couple of weeks, you saw some very good people protesting, but you saw some bad people also.’
Trump also suggested his viewpoint would change if there were two people against one.
Faulker reminded Trump that four police officers were at the scene where Floyd died.
‘So it’s a very, very, very tricky situation,’ Trump went on.
The president said it was a good thing to discuss.
‘Because, off the cuff, it would sound like, absolutely,’ he said of banning the move.
Faulkner seemed to affirm that Trump believed chokeholds should be used on a ‘sliding scale depending on what the circumstances are.’
She then asked Trump if he thought he was part of the conversation on chokehold bans.
‘I really am,’ he answered. ‘And I think the concept of chokeholds sounds so innocent, so perfect and then you realize if it’s a one-on-one 0 now if it’s a two-on-one that’s a little bit of a different story depending, depending on the toughness and strength.’
‘You know we’re talking about toughness and strength we are talking, there’s a physical thing here also,’ he said.