Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
US President Donald Trump is “incapable of showing any type of empathy,” in the wake of the racist murder of George Floyd, says an American mayor.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN Sunday that she was “simply disgusted” by Trump’s mentioning of the African American victim of US police brutality on Friday.
“Again, it shows that this president is incapable of showing any type of empathy. He always gets it wrong, time and time again, and I think we've got to stop expecting any more from him,” said the Democratic mayor.
Trump mentioned Floyd’s name as he described the current climate a “great day for equality.”
"Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that’s happening for our country. This is a great day for him, it’s a great day for everybody. This is a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day in terms of equality,” Trump said.
Bottoms also commented about George’s brother, Philonise Floyd, who was given no chance by Trump to talk during the president’s phone call.
“I didn't know George Floyd either, but I’ve been able at least to watch his family and those who knew him and get a glimpse of the type of man he was,” Bottoms said. “I think if the president is going to say anything it may have been more appropriate to talk about his family, and perhaps him looking down on his children, and perhaps him being proud of the movement that's happening in this country.”
Powell decries GOP silence
Meanwhile, former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell said that President Trump has "drifted away" from the US constitution.
"We have a constitution. And we have to follow that Constitution. And the President has drifted away from it," he said. "I think what we're seeing now, is (the most) massive protest movement I have ever seen in my life, I think it suggests the country is getting wise to this and we're not going to put up with it anymore.”
The retired general who served under President George W. Bush, further slammed the GOP lawmaker’s silence in the wake of the murder and Trump’s response.
"I watched the senators heading into the chamber the other day after all this broke, with the reporters saying, 'What do you have to say? What do they to say?'" he said. "They had nothing to say. They would not react."
Floyd was killed when a white police officer knelt on his neck. The killing has sparked demonstrations in hundreds of US cities against police brutality and racism.
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