During the chaotic presidential debate in Cleveland on Tuesday night, Donald Trump touted support from “almost every law enforcement group in the United States” and claimed that the Portland, Oregon, Sheriff had endorsed him. But the Sheriff quickly fired but to refute the president’s claim.
“As the Multnomah County Sheriff I have never supported Donald Trump and will never support him,” Sheriff Mike Reese responded on Twitter Tuesday night.
“Donald Trump has made my job a hell of a lot harder since he started talking about Portland, but I never thought he’d try to turn my wife against me!” the sheriff added.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office’s Twitter account retweeted both of Reese’s tweets.
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During the debate, Trump bragged having the support of law enforcement after being asked why he should be trusted to deal with “race issues.”
“I have Florida. I have Texas. I have Ohio. I have, excuse me, Portland — the sheriff just came out today, and he said, ‘I support President Trump,’” Trump said.
“I don’t think you have any law enforcement,” the president told Democratic nominee Joe Biden. “You can’t even say the word law enforcement because if you say those words, you’re gonna lose all of your radical left supporters.”
Trump’s assertions come after protests against racial injustice and police brutality have broken out across the country this year, including in Portland, sometimes turning violent.
Biden responded to the president by saying he supports law and order and refuting Trump’s remarks that he supports the movement to Defund the Police.
The president’s campaign has framed Biden as incapable of handling the demonstrations, while the former vice president has retorted that the protests and violence are occurring during Trump’s presidency.
Watch Trump’s claim and the sheriff’s response below:
Donald Trump has made my job a hell of a lot harder since he started talking about Portland, but I never thought he'd try to turn my wife against me! #PortlandSheriff #Debates2020 #DebateNight
— Mike Reese (@SheriffReese) September 30, 2020
