Trump Campaign Adviser Discusses Police Violence

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: The vice president basically declaring nobody will be safe in Joe Biden’s America. Isn’t that just pure fearmongering?

KEN BLACKWELL, ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER, DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT: No, it isn’t. I think — let’s take a look at what you just said in your last interview about the black Africans and their concern and their speaking out against what they perceive as a wrongful use of force and the injuring, in this case, of a black citizen. Look, at the end of the day, this is not about defunding the police, it’s about how do you create safe neighborhoods and safe streets for people to raise their families. That is — look, I’m a former mayor. So, I understand. I, in fact, provided local oversight, citizen oversight to the Cincinnati Police Department. We were very transparent when it came to the wrongful use of force and we held people accountable. We didn’t talk about defunding the police department in categorical terms. You know, this is crazy. If you take a look at what’s happening in Chicago, what’s happening in Detroit, what’s happening in New York, when you talk about homicides, when you talk about protecting innocent lives, you need trained, compassionate police officers that are held accountable, but–

AMANPOUR: But isn’t that the point? Yes, isn’t that the point, trained, compassionate —

BLACKWELL: The point is that there are more deaths. If you look at — look at the hard number, look at the hard numbers, and then also look at the reaction of the Trump administration. They, through their operation legend, said, look, we will, in fact, coordinate — help to coordinate safety forces across jurisdictions to make sure the streets are safe and neighborhoods are safe. We will also hold accountable those folks who use force unlawfully, that not only result in injury, but result in death. So, people are starting to speak past that. You know, what irritates me — and I’m going to tell you, what irritates me as a black man who’s been a mayor of a city, who’s been an undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is when I don’t hear this concern about the cities that are becoming killing fields with blacks killing blacks in much greater numbers than the wrongful use of force.