President Donald Trump compared Monday the Democrat-led effort to impeach him to actor Jussie Smollett’s failed attempt to “scam” the criminal justice system with a fake hate crime.
“Then you have the case of this wise guy Jessie Smollet, who beat up himself,” Trump said as the crowd laughed. “And he said MAGA country did it … it’s a real big scam, just like the impeachment of your president is a scam.”
Trump spoke at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference, and was introduced by IACP President Paul Cell as “the strongest support of law enforcement that this profession has ever seen.”
The president thanked the group of law officials present, singling out Superintendent of Chicago Police Eddie Johnson for mockery after he publicly boycotted Trump’s scheduled speech in his city.
“We are nothing without trust and with some of our communities under siege, it just doesn’t line up with our city’s core values along with my personal values,” Johnson said in a statement explaining his decision.
“Here’s a man who could not be bothered to show up for police chiefs, the most respected people in the country in his home town, and with the president of the United States,” Trump said. “You know why its because he’s not doing his job.”
Trump noted that there were 565 murders in Chicago in 2018, but that since Johnson took office, more than 1,500 had been murdered in the city and 13,067 people had been shot.
“It’s a shame, and I want Eddie Johnson to change his values and change them fast,” he said as the audience applied.
The president shared a story of meeting a Chicago police officer who told him that they could easily solve the problems in the city in just a day if allowed to by police superintendents and local government officials.
“I thought there’s a guy who could be your police superintendent and do a hell of a job,” Trump said.
He criticized Democrats and Johnson for the rising crime in the sanctuary city of Chicago, calling it “a betrayal of their oath” to serve and protect their citizens.
Trump reminded the audience Chicago had the toughest gun laws in the United States but still had a high murder rate.
“That doesn’t seem to be working too well does it,” Trump said. “And a lot of you people know exactly what I mean.”
The president praised the police chiefs for bringing down crime nationwide, promising to continue as “the greatest and most loyal champion” of the police force.
“The people of this country love you,” he said. “You don’t hear that from these people back here, you don’t hear it from the fake news, the fake news doesn’t like talking about that, but they love you.”
The president also celebrated the death of ISIS founder and terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after the United States breached his compound in Syrian on Saturday.
“He was a sick and depraved man, and now he’s dead, he’s dead as a doornail,” Trump said.
He jokingly thanked former President Obama for allowing him to appoint 142 judges to the district courts.
“I want to thank you, President Obama, for giving me 142 open judges,” he said. “How you allowed that to happen is beyond me. Thank you, President Obama, very much.”
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