Trump’s ‘shooting’ tweet turns a protest crisis into a firestorm
Trump’s warning that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” detonated into a full-blown backlash on May 30, with civil-rights groups, Democrats, and even the platform itself treating the message as a dangerous escalation rather than a show of strength. The White House tried to frame it as toughness. The broader reaction was that the president had reached for a racist old menace at exactly the wrong moment and then acted surprised when the country heard it that way.
First recorded May 30, 2020·Meaningfully updated May 30, 2020
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Trump’s ‘shooting’ tweet turns a protest crisis into a firestorm
Trump’s warning that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” detonated into a full-blown backlash on May 30, with civil-rights groups, Democrats, and even the platform itself treating the message as a dangerous escalation rather than a show of strength. The White House tried to frame it as toughness. The broader reaction was that the president had reached for a racist old menace at exactly the wrong moment and then acted surprised when the country heard it that way.
Trump’s warning that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” detonated into a full-blown backlash on May 30, with civil-rights groups, Democrats, and even the platform itself treating the message as a dangerous escalation rather than a show of strength. The White House tried to frame it as toughness. The broader reaction was that the president had reached for a racist old menace at exactly the wrong moment an…
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