During an unannounced press conference on Monday, President Donald Trump threatened to authorize military force if protests don't remain peaceful across the country. As he spoke, law enforcement officers gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Park at his order, to clear space for him to walk to a nearby church for a photo op.
CNN's John King told Boston Public Radio the presidents' actions were unlike anything he's seen in his decades-long career.
"I never thought I'd be speaking the words ... that the President of United States spent my tax dollars and your tax dollars to have people exercising their first amendment right to free speech, to have them shoved off Lafayette Park, to have tear gas used and batons used against them ... so the president, who never goes to church, could stand up in front of a church, and hold a Bible."
King warned against viewers' indifference or content fatigue for the president's abuses of power amid the convergence of crises due to the coronavirus pandemic and the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police, which has sparked national protests against police violence.
"It's incredulous what you see, I think the temptation here is to say 'It's another Trump disruption, let's move on, there'll be another one tomorrow.' This one, I hope people, whatever your politics, it should give you pause that the president of the United States thinks he can spend your tax collars to have federal police shove people out of a federal park who are exercising one of the gifts we have in this country, which is to speak their mind and protest. They weren't doing anything wrong, in fact they were doing everything right."
