Appearing on Fox News on Monday, President Donald Trump likened police officers who commit acts of brutality to golfers who “choke” and miss a 3-foot putt.
“They can do 10,000 great acts, which is what they do, and one bad apple or a choker — you know, a choker. They choke,” Trump told host Laura Ingraham, apparently making reference to the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wis.
Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot in the back seven times by a white police officer on Aug. 23 as he leaned into his car. Three of Blake’s children were reportedly in the back seat of his SUV when their father was shot.
“Shooting the guy in the back many times. I mean, couldn’t you have done something different? Couldn’t you have wrestled him?” Trump said Monday. “You know, I mean, in the meantime, he might’ve been going for a weapon. And, you know, there’s a whole big thing there.”
It was not clear whether Trump was specifically discussing Blake’s shooting or advancing unfounded speculation about the role of a weapon in that case.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice reported last week that its investigators “recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard” in Blake’s vehicle. But law enforcement have not said the knife or any other weapon was used in Blake’s encounter with police.
Nevertheless, Trump proceeded Monday to say of police officers: “They choke just like in a golf tournament. They miss a 3-foot putt.”
Ingraham tried to interject, telling the president: “You’re not comparing it to golf, because of course, that’s what the media would say.”
“I’m saying people choke. People choke,” Trump responded. “And people are bad people. You have both. You have some bad people and you have — they choke.”
Trump’s remarks came as law enforcement officers are under increased scrutiny amid racial injustice in policing as the country has struggled with nationwide protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May.
Watch:
Trump compares police who shoot civilians to golfers who miss putts.
TRUMP: "They choke. Just like in a golf tournament. They miss a 3-foot putt …"
INGRAHAM: "You're not comparing it to golf, because that's what the media -"
TRUMP: "I'm saying people choke." pic.twitter.com/ggXGckrBzQ
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) September 1, 2020