WASHINGTON – It was the kind of personal statement expected from a president in response to the disturbing video of a black man gasping for help as a white policeman pinned him to the street by the neck.
But it was a very different tone for President Donald Trump, who has often been silent in the face of white-on-black violence and has a long history of defending police. “I feel very, very badly," Trump said Thursday of George Floyd's death while handcuffed and in the custody of police in Minneapolis. "That’s a very shocking sight.” Once more likely to hew to the “blue lives matter” mantra, Trump and his allies are questioning an officer’s conduct and calling for justice for Floyd.