Donald Trump Knows Nothing About Alton Sterling or Philando Castile
This morning, Donald Trump released a statement addressing last night’s shooting of police officers in Dallas, as well as the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Contrary to Trump’s general campaign strategy, the statement attempts to position him as “presidential,” which makes it all the more appropriate that there is one giant screw up.
The statement contains the following sentence:
The senseless, tragic death of two motorists in Louisiana and Minnesota reminds us how much more needs to be done.
Philando Castile, who died in Minnesota, was a “motorist” killed inside his car by a police officer. But Alton Sterling was not. He was a man selling CDs outside a convenience store. Perhaps the Trump campaign was confused by Sterling dying in a parking lot next to a vehicle. These are the sorts of basic details you’re supposed to be in command of as president.
Alas, there will very likely be more opportunities for Trump to demonstrate baseline respect for the victims of police violence by simply understanding their stories. The full statement is below.
Full Trump statement: pic.twitter.com/t055oncAPs
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) July 8, 2016