Donald Trump hasn't addressed the country as it burns with anger because he literally doesn't have anything to say. Trump spent part of his weekend hiding in a bunker that's intended for use in case of terrorist attacks. Poor Trump, who is pouring gasoline on the fire with his rage tweets, is reportedly afraid for his physical safety.
So Trump hopped on a call with the nation's governors and unloaded: criticizing their leadership, chastising them to quell the protests, and encouraging them to use force to “dominate” the unrest. It was nothing short of "unhinged," and some people listening in were alarmed, according to Washington Post's Robert Acosta and CBS News’ Ed O'Keefe.
Keep in mind that Trump reportedly spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday morning.
Here are some choice Trump quotes from the call (CBS reportedly has the audio):
- "You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate."
- "You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again."
- "You’re making a mistake because you're making yourselves look like fools. And some have done a great job. But a lot of you, it’s not – it’s not a great day for our country."
- "You know when other countries watch this, they’re watching this, the next day wow, they’re really a push over. And we can’t be a push over. And we have all the resources – it’s not like we don’t have the resources. So, I don’t know what you’re doing."
- "Washington was under very good control, but we’re going to have it under much more control. We’re going to pull in thousands of people."
Trump also encouraged the governors to use U.S. military force on the call. And finally ...