At this week’s debate, both Donald Trump and Joe Biden sought to position themselves as the candidate of law-and-order. But when pressed by Trump to name one law enforcement group that endorsed him, Joe Biden couldn’t name a single one.
That struck us as odd because less than a month ago, the Biden campaign released the names of 190 current and former members of law enforcement who endorsed him. Granted, the list does not name groups, only individuals. But for whatever reason, Biden stood there silently, unable to answer the question.
Meanwhile, the nation’s largest police union, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which represents 355,000 police officers endorsed Trump. “Look at what the national discourse has focused on for the last six months. President Trump has shown time after time that he supports our law enforcement officers and understands the issues our members face every day,” said Patrick Yoes, President of the FOP in a press release. “The FOP is proud to endorse a candidate who calls for law and order across our nation.”
Trump also go the endorsement of the New York City Police Benevolent Association (NYC PBA). Pat Lynch, President of the NYC PBA said, “I cannot remember when we’ve ever endorsed for the office of President of the United States, until now.”
Of the 190 people from the law enforcement community who endorsed Biden, nearly half are identified as “former” in their titles and no longer active in law enforcement.
“Joe Biden’s campaign staff threw this list together and blasted it out to the media in an attempt to make him look strong,” said Rick Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government. “The fact that he couldn’t remember all these endorsements from less than a month ago, is strange. Either he didn’t know about them or couldn’t recall them. He’s not running his own campaign, or he’s reached the end of his intellectual lifespan. In either case, both are worse than appearing to be weak on crime. Which, by the way, he is.”
At the debate, Biden defended far-left anarchist movement Antifa as “an idea, not an organization.”
To be sure, there is a lot of disagreement over what or who Antifa is. The Deseret News notes that “conservative pundits like Chris Talgo, editor and research fellow at the Heartland Institute based north of Chicago, say antifa is a dangerous force, ‘hellbent on destroying people’s businesses, federal property and the like.’”
“These lawless thugs who are destroying our cities may not be card-carrying members of Antifa, but they still pose an enormous threat to every law-abiding citizen in this country,” noted Manning.
Antifa has an outsized impact because they are aided by social and mainstream media with amplify their message of intolerance and hate. They have normalized the bedlam on our streets and Biden defends them.
Fact check conclusion: Biden is an Antifa apologist who doesn’t know what’s going on with his campaign. Trump is the clear law-and-order candidate.
Catherine Mortensen is the Vice President of Communications at Americans for Limited Government.
