During an appearance on Fox News’s The Five, Geraldo Rivera condemned President Donald Trump after Twitter flagged the president for “glorifying violence” after he referred to those who’ve protested in Minneapolis following George Floyd’s death as “THUGS” and said that “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Rivera said Democrats are “studiously avoiding” incidences of looting in Minneapolis, but added, “But the other thing is, the president, in these tweets, ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts,’ c’mon!”
“What is this, 6th grade?” he continued. “You don’t put gasoline on the fire. That’s not calming anybody. Who are you daring?” Rivera mocked the idea that any demonstrators would stop what they’re doing because Donald Trump tweeted that they might get shot. “That’s not going to happen!” he exclaimed. “All he does is diminish himself.”
Rivera concluded that he “laments” the “recklessness” of Trump’s “tempestuous nature when it comes to Twitter.”
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The president later insisted that his remark about looting “was spoken as a fact, not as a statement.”
“It’s very simple,” he said, “nobody should have any problem with this other than the haters, and those looking to cause trouble on social media.”
….It was spoken as a fact, not as a statement. It’s very simple, nobody should have any problem with this other than the haters, and those looking to cause trouble on social media. Honor the memory of George Floyd!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
