Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline,” former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) said President Donald Trump ordering the use of federal police officers in Portland, OR and threatening to do the same in other cities to quell the ongoing protests is a “scary” distraction from his administrations “failed” response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Host Brian Williams said, “The snarky way to put this if you feel the only thing your city has been missing is a federal secret police force, you may be in luck. You would also be forgiven for thinking we’re in the middle of the ’68 campaign, with talk of law and order and a silent majority. I thought this might be more impactful for you coming from Minnesota, where the Twin Cities saw so much violence earlier this year.”
Franken said, “Yeah, this is scary. A paramilitary force is what this seems to be in American cities. I don’t know if this at best, maybe a distraction at worse a provocation. And it’s to detract from COVID. Which he has failed miserably at, and so, I guess to get the discussion away from that.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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