In Texas, President Trump talks reform and says ‘we have to dominate the street’
President Donald Trump traveled to Dallas on Thursday to talk about a plan to boost the economy, support police, expand school choice and address health care disparities in communities of color.
And he found a little time to talk about politics — and raise millions of campaign dollars.
“This is one of my favorite places,” Trump said during a more than hour-long roundtable at Gateway Church’s campus in Dallas, shortly before heading to a private fundraiser. “I know we are doing really well here.”
Amid talk that the presidential race between him and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is tight in Texas, Trump said he’s getting a different message.
“Some of my friends say it’s not too close to call, you’re going to win in a landslide,” Trump told the crowd of hundreds gathered for the roundtable called “Transition to Greatness: Restoring, Rebuilding and Renewing.”
Biden released a statement saying that Trump is the wrong choice and is “more interested in photo-ops than offering a healing voice as our nation mourns.”
The group inside Gateway cheered Trump’s arrival, his comments and thoughts shared by people on his panel, ranging from Surgeon General Jerome Adams to Attorney General William Barr.
Trump touched on his plan, and said it includes pursuing economic development in minority neighborhoods, confronting health care disparities by investing in minority-served medical institutions, and encouraging police to meet professional standards for use of force. He renewed his call for expanded school choice because “access to education is the civil rights issue of our time.”
He drew applause when talking about police across the country, and how he can’t believe that some want to disband police departments.
“We are not defunding police,” he said. “If anything, we are going the other way.”
He said more resources must be invested in training, community engagement and recruitment for police.
Trump’s visit to Texas came two days after the Houston funeral for George Floyd, who died in the custody of Minneapolis police after an officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. His death has sparked protests against police brutality and racism across the country.
Trump said that “what happened two weeks ago was a disgrace.”
And he said “you always have bad apples where ever you go” and police departments are not immune to that. But he said “there are not too many of them” in police departments.
Without police, he said, “what happens late at night when you make that call to 911 and there’s nobody there?”
He said the country will have stronger police forces because “we have to dominate the street.”
Trump’s office issued a statement after the roundtable saying “recent national events have underscored the fact that many minority communities have not historically had access to the same opportunities as other Americans, and President Trump is working tirelessly to change that inequity.”
“As the United States begins to transition to greatness following the coronavirus outbreak, President Trump will not allow for minority communities to be left out of the prosperity that is to come,” according to the statement.
Supporters
Trump supporters and protesters gathered outside the church.
He was greeted at Dallas Love Field by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, among others.
Others who participated in the roundtable included Gateway pastor Robert Morris; Dr. Robin Armstrong of Texas City; Jack Brewer, a former NFL player from Grapevine; Glenn Heights Police Chief Vernell Dooley; Surgeon General Jerome Adams; Attorney General William Barr; White House Adviser JaRon Smith; Bishop Harry Jackson of the Washington, D.C. area; and White House official Scott Turner.
Several key black Dallas officials, including Police Chief Reneé Hall, Sheriff Marian Brown and District Attorney John Creuzot, were not invited, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Response to Trump’s visit
Biden’s statement Thursday said the country has watched Trump “botch the response to COVID-19 and the economic crisis that has followed.”
“Texas is now facing a massive surge in positive COVID-19 cases, with the number hospitalizations hitting an all-time high,” Biden’s statement said. “The country, and Texas, are facing multiple crises — yet President Trump continues to demonstrate that he’s not the right leader to address any of them.”
Biden pointed out nearly 3 million Texans filed for unemployment and more than 1,800 Texans have died from COVID-19. And Thursday’s visit came as people across the country continue protests that started after Floyd’s death.
“Today’s trip to Texas won’t change any of that,” Biden said.
Texas Democrats hosted a conference call before the president’s visit, where U.S. Reps. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth and Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas, along with Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto HInojosa, said the president has failed in leading Texas and the country at a time of “social unrest, economic calamity and a pandemic that shows no signs of receding.”
Veasey called Trump an “agitator” and said “it’s clear we need a new leader.”
Fundraiser
Trump already had planned to be in Dallas Thursday night for a fundraiser that includes about 25 people and is expected to raise at least $10 million.
Requirements for each person attending that event is that they test negative for coronavirus, pass a temperature screening and complete a wellness questionnaire.
The cost is a minimum of $580,000 per couple and that covers two meals and a photo with the president, according to the invitation.
The Trump Victory campaign is covering the cost of the COVID-19 tests.
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 6:01 PM.
