Trump’s Show of Force Fizzles in Backlash Over Protest Crackdown
- Religious leaders condemn use of police force for church photo
- Republican governors reject offer of military to quell protest
This article is for subscribers only.
Donald Trump faced a dwindling set of options to address nationwide unrest, after a backlash erupted over the government’s violent dispersal of peaceful protests outside the White House, plunging the president into more election-year turmoil.
For Trump and his conservative backers, his photo op late Monday in front of historic St. John’s Episcopal Church with Bible in hand was a show of strength -- a symbolic move meant to reassure Americans that he would restore law and order after several nights of chaos in major U.S. cities over the death of George Floyd.