Someone watched “The Purge.”
Former President Donald Trump mused about having “one really rough, nasty” and “violent day” of police work to stop the rampant shoplifting rampant across the country as he spoke at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
“We have to let the police do their job. And if they have to be extremely rough —” Trump, 78, said before being interrupted by cheers. “The police are not allowed to do their job. They are told: ‘If you do something, you will lose your pension; you’re going to lose your family, your house, your car.” What the hell is going on?
The 45th president alluded to viral images of bandits looting stores and accused the “liberal left” of hampering law enforcement’s ability to respond to criminals.
Trump then floated the idea of tapping someone “tough” like Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) to take charge of law enforcement for a period of time.
“If you had one day, like one real, rough bad day with the drugstores as an example,” Trump said later during his speech on policing. “In a heavy hour – and I mean really heavy – the word will come out, and it will end immediately – end immediately.”
The former president has also pitched ideas such as issuing the death penalty for drug dealers and child molesters, as well bring back stop-and-frisk policing methods across the country.
During his speech on crime, Trump warned that shoplifting could cause stores to “bankruptcy.”
Trump’s team later explained that he was not rolling out any new anti-crime policies, but rather talking about how he wants to lift heavy restrictions on police officers.
“The police want to do it,” Trump emphasized at one point. “The Border Patrol wants to do it. Border Patrol, they’re incredible. They want to do it. They can’t do it because the liberal left won’t let them.”
But Trump has also shown a willingness to show clemency in some cases, having signed the bipartisan First Step Act criminal justice reform package into law and previously using his clemency and pardon powers.
He has also criticized the power of prosecutors in the wake of the wave of criminal charges filed against him.
