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As protests raged outside of the White House, Donald Trump was hidden away inside of a special bunker. People continued protesting the death of George Floyd over the weekend.
George Floyd died last Monday and his death sparked worldwide protests. Demonstrators flocked to the White House to show their support for Floyd, with clashes erupting intermittently.
“Secret Service agents abruptly rushed the president to the underground bunker used in the past during terrorist attacks,” reported the New York Times.
The same bunker sheltered vice president Dick Cheney during the 9/11 attacks. “The president and his family were rattled by their experience on Friday night, according to several advisers,” said the Times report.
Related: Trump Continues Twitter Feud as Minneapolis Protests Continue
Since George Floyd’s death, President Trump has been widely criticized for the way he has responded to the resulting protests. Unlike face masks with air filters, you can’t as easily block protestors, and special care is needed.
A major complaint is how Trump hasn’t taken the time to address the nation. Instead, he has been repeatedly tweeting inflammatory messages.
Late on Friday, Trump tweeted the idea of protestors being attacked with “vicious dogs and ominous weapons.” Trump also accused the DC mayor of not doing enough to protect the White House.
“They let the ‘protestors’ scream and rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard–didn’t know what hit them,” tweeted Trump.
“If they had [breached the fence],” he continued, “they would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least.”
Trump did reach out to Floyd’s family. However, Philonese Floyd, Floyd’s brother, said the conversation was very short-lived. “He didn’t give me an opportunity to even speak.”
Allies have been urging Trump to tone down his rhetoric over the continuing protests. Instead, he has been doubling-down on his strategy of calling for stronger force against the demonstrators. Critics have warned that this only worsens the situation.
One of those allies is Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who spoke with the President on Saturday. He said Trump’s tweets were “not constructive.”
“I told him what I’m going to tell you, which is, Mr. President, it helps us when you focus on the death, the unjustified, in my opinion, the criminal death of George Floyd,” said Scott during a Fox News interview.
“Those tweets are very helpful. It is helpful when you say what you said yesterday, which is that it’s important for us to recognize the benefits of non-violent protests,” he continued.
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