President Donald Trump on Friday criticized Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan for allowing leftist protesters to seize and occupy parts of her city.
“I saw her break down. I saw her leave. I saw her have absolutely no control. I saw her make a lot of bad decisions,” Trump said in an interview with Haris Faulkner, describing one of Durkan’s recent press conferences as “pathetic.”
The “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) leftist protesters this week barricaded and occupied six blocks of the city, declaring it a no-police zone.
The president urged local officials to get tough with the protesters and end the lawlessness.
“Toughness sometimes is the most compassionate, because people are getting badly hurt,” he said.
The president again promised to act federally to handle the lawless group, but he did not offer a timeline for action.
“What I mean is very simple. We’re not going to let Seattle be occupied by anarchists,” he said. “And I’m not calling them protesters.”
The president again expressed his preference for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to use the National Guard to clear the area.
“If there were more toughness, you wouldn’t have the kind of devastation that you had in Minneapolis and in Seattle,” he said. “I mean, let’s see what’s going on. So I will tell you, if they don’t straighten that situation out, we’re going to straighten it out.”
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