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Jun 2, 2020 - Politics & Policy

McConnell blocks resolution condemning Trump's actions against peaceful protesters

Axios

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked a resolution introduced by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday that would have condemned the use of tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters outside the White House on Monday in order to allow President Trump to walk to St. John's Church.

What they're saying: "Justice for black Americans in the face of unjust violence, and peace for our country in the face of looting, riots, and domestic terror. Those are the two issues Americans want addressed," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

  • "Unfortunately, this resolution from my friend the Democratic leader does not address either one of them. Instead, it just indulges in the myopic obsession with President Trump that has come to define the Democratic side of the aisle."
  • "Outside of the Washington, D.C., bubble, there is no universe where Americans think Democrats' obsession with condemning President Trump is a more urgent priority than ending the riots or advancing racial justice."

The other side: The resolution that Schumer introduced also affirmed the constitutional rights of peaceful protesters and condemned violence and looting. McConnell proposed his own resolution that condemned racial injustice and riots, which Schumer then blocked.

  • "It's very simple why the Republican leader objected to our resolution and offered this one instead," Schumer said, after objecting to a counter-resolution from McConnell that stripped out references to Trump.
  • "It's because they do not want to condemn what the president did, though every fair minded American of any political party would. We certainly should condemn violence — let me repeat, this resolution condemns violence — but it is insufficient in light of what happened just to condemn violence, and not condemn what the president did as well."

Details: Schumer's proposed resolution affirmed the following ...

  1. "The constitutional rights of Americans to peaceably assemble, exercise freedom of speech, and petition the government for redress of grievances must be respected;
  2. That violence and looting are unlawful, unacceptable and contrary to the purpose of peaceful protests; and
  3. That Congress condemns the President of the United States for ordering federal officers to use gas and rubber bullets against the Americans who were peaceably protesting in Lafayette Square in Washington, DC on the night of June 1, 2020, thereby violating the constitutional rights of those peaceful protesters."

Go deeper: Handful of GOP senators scold Trump over St. John's photo op

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