Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump lamented a “lack of spirit” between whites and blacks after the second straight night of protests in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the wake of the shooting of a black man at the hands of police Tuesday.
“It’s very sad when you look at what’s going on. It’s very sad. It’s very divided, our country, and it’s getting worse,” Mr. Trump said Thursday on “Fox and Friends.”
“It seems that there’s a lack of spirit between the white and the black,” he said. “I mean, it’s a terrible thing that we’re witnessing.”
“You look at what went on last night in Charlotte, a great place, and you just see it,” he said. “There’s a lack of spirit. There’s a lack of something. Something’s going on that’s bad, and what’s going on between police and others is getting worse.”
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency Wednesday evening after violent protests broke out again in the wake of the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott, a black man, at the hands of police on Tuesday. Police said Scott had a gun on him before he was shot, though Scott’s family said he had a book.
One person was reportedly on life support after getting shot by another civilian Wednesday.
“You have to have law and order. At the same time … you have to have a certain spirit, a certain unity, and there’s no unity,” Mr. Trump said. “You look at the level of hatred … the rocks being thrown and everything happening. It’s so sad to see.”
“There’s just no unity. There has to be a unity message somehow that has to get out, and it starts with leadership,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.