President Donald Trump on Monday urged governors to shut down the growing violent protests around the nation, comparing them to the Occupy Wall Street protests during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
“We found out they’re delivering supplies to various places in various states, your people know about it now,” he said. “It’s like a movement. It’s a movement that if you don’t put it down it will get worse and worse. This is like Occupy Wall Street; it was a disaster until one day some person said, ‘That’s enough.’”
The intense video conference call with Trump and governors took place in the Situation Room of the White House lasted nearly an hour, according to reports.
He urged them to take swift action, citing the success of law enforcement shutting down the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
“Go back and study Occupy Wall Street, because you’ll see the way that ended, it was a thing of beauty,” Trump said. “It was an hour of bedlam and when it was all over, it was a beautiful thing.”
Audio of his remarks was quickly leaked to the media. The Daily Beast posted audio of the full conversation online.
Trump acknowledged that some of the violent looting was merely people looking to steal items from stores without consequences.
“They’re all on camera. They’re wise guys, and it’s coming from the radical left. You know it; everybody knows it, but it’s also looters, and it’s people that figure they can get free stuff by running into stores and running out with television sets,” he said.
Trump pointed to the National Guard and federal troops who could help them “dominate” the streets to prevent any further violence.
“We have all the men and women that you need, but people aren’t calling them up. You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run all over you, and you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks,” he said.
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