WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s bellicose response to the racial unrest engulfing the United States and his questionable visit to a church after the forced clearing of peaceful protesters have stimulated divisions and frustration among some White House staff.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a Bible as he stands in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church throughout from the White Home after strolling there for a photo chance during continuous demonstrations over racial inequality in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis cops custody, at the White Home in Washington, U.S., June 1,2020 REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Trump’s focus on “order” to suppress sometimes violent protests came after discussion amongst consultants about the best method to respond to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who passed away after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes in Minneapolis last week, senior administration officials stated.
However the Republican president’s surprise trip to the historical Saint John’s Church near the White House on Monday, throughout which he held up a Bible for photographers and posed with employee who all were white, drew condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, and rattled some on his own team, one senior administration official informed Reuters.
Law enforcement authorities utilized heavy handed strategies to clear the area of peaceful protesters prior to the check out, although a Washington curfew was not yet i