Trump compared police who shoot people to golf players who mess up their shots, the night before visiting the aftermath of the Jacob Blake shooting in Kenosha
- President Donald Trump compared police officers who use excessive force to golfers who "choke" on important shots.
- Speaking with the Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Monday night, he said: "They choke. Just like in a golf tournament, they miss a 3-foot putt."
- Trump was speaking in the aftermath of last week's police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha.
- Trump is due to visit Kenosha on Tuesday afternoon, despite local officials asking him not to.
President Donald Trump compared police officers using excessive force to golfers who "choke" on the course.
Trump made the comparison on Fox News the night before he was scheduled to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the aftermath of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
In an interview with the Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Monday night, he said of police officers: "They choke. Just like in a golf tournament, they miss a 3-foot putt."
Ingraham then interjected, saying: "You're not comparing it to golf. Because of course that's what the media would say."
You can watch the exchange here:
Trump continued: "I'm saying people choke. People choke. And people are bad people. You have both. You have some bad people, and they choke."
He added: "You could be a police officer for 15 years and all of a sudden you're confronted. You've got a quarter of a second to make a decision. If you don't make the decision — and you're wrong — you're dead. People choke under those circumstances, and they make a bad decision."
Earlier in the interview, Trump described a process that would lead to an officer shooting someone.
"They can do 10,000 great acts, which is what they do, and one bad apple — or a choker," he said. "Y'know a choker. They choke."
Investigators from the Wisconsin Department of Justice say that Blake had a knife in his car and was opening the car door when he was shot seven times in the back. They also said an earlier attempt to stop Blake with a Taser had not worked.
His family attorney said Blake had been left paralyzed below the waist from his wounds.
"Shooting the guy, shooting the guy in the back many times, I mean, couldn't you have done something different?" Trump said. "Couldn't you have wrestled him?"
A witness who recorded the moment a police officer shot Blake said he saw the police wrestle, punch, and shoot Blake with a stun gun first.
Trump is due to visit Kenosha on Tuesday following protests and widespread damage sparked by Blake's shooting.
Trump told reporters on Monday that he would not meet with Blake's family during his visit.
He is due to meet with law enforcement and to view property damage that has taken place in the unrest since Blake's shooting.
Gov. Tony Evers had urged Trump to "reconsider" his visit to Kenosha, saying he was concerned that Trump's "presence will only hinder our healing."
John Antaramian, Kenosha's mayor, had said he would prefer if Trump did not visit.