During his presidency, Donald Trump has portrayed himself as a law and order leader, and he is now trying to take advantage of that persona to get backing of police unions before November’s election. On July 13, Trump decided to convince the NAPO (National Association of Police Organizations) that they should endorse him over former vice president Joe Biden.
The NAPO refrained from endorsing a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, but in 2008 and 2012, it supported President Barack Obama primarily because Biden was on the ticket. But with the law enforcement coming under fire from the American people after the death of George Floyd in the police custody, and Democrats pushing Biden to adopt a progressive agenda, Trump is hoping to get the support police unions nationwide as he tries to regain grounds he has lost in the poll to the Democratic presumptive presidential nominee, Fox News reported.
During a roundtable on July 13, Trump noted that police officers have come under vicious assault. The conference was attended by people whose lives have been impacted positively by law enforcement. He went on to say that some irresponsible politicians have tried to defame the police as the enemy, adding that these radical politicians are bent on defunding the police.
Trump announced that his administration is pro-safety, pro-police, and anti-crime. The NAPO is highly likely to endorse Trump, given that he has embraced law enforcement during his time in the Oval Office. It can be recalled that the Fraternal Order of Police, which comprises 330,000-member police unions, supported Trump during his 2016 White House run.
The Trump campaign has recently tried to take the police support away from Biden and portrayed the presumptive nominee as someone closely associated with progressive Democrats’ push to defund law enforcement agencies. While Biden's campaign has not supported the idea of eradicating the police, the candidate has pointed out that some funding needs to be redirected from the police.
During an interview on Now This News with activist Ady Barkan, Biden said that police forces do not need surplus military equipment, explaining that this is what leads them to become the enemy in a community. Last month, Biden campaign Rapid Response Director Andrew Bates said that the former vice president believes that there's an urgent need for reforms such as funding for summer programs, public schools, mental health, substance abuse treatment separate from funding for policing, which will allow officers to focus on policing.
Biden's criminal justice plan proposes an extra $300 million for community policing. According to Bates, the funding would help improve relationships between police and residents, while providing the much-needed training to avoid unjustifiable deaths.