According to a forthcoming book written by a former Secretary of Defense, Donald Trump wanted to shoot demonstrators protesting the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd.
The book "A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times" is scheduled for release in May, and it states that Trump became increasingly frustrated with the fury caused by the death of Floyd while in custody of the Minneapolis police.
Excerpts from the book were first reported by the website.
Trump asked the protestors if they could just shoot them in the legs.
According to the excerpt, at that particular moment, the idea weighing heavily in the air, and the president red faced and complaining loudly about the protests under way in Washington, felt like it wassurreal, sitting in front of the Resolute desk, inside the Oval Office.
This wasn't a difficult decision, he said. The good news is that I was able to figure out a way to get Trump back.
In the forthcoming book, "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future," New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns recounted a testy June 2020 call featuring Trump and the nation's governors.
Martin and Burns said that at the time, the governors were pressed to "dominate" the landscapes of their states.
They wrote in the book that Trump urged the governors to return to public order while demanding a swift return to racial justice protestors. In the Rose Garden later that day, Trump threatened to deploy federal troops if the governors did not move quickly.
In November 2020, shortly after the presidential election, Trump terminated his position.
A representative for Trump did not reply immediately.
The post has been updated.
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