If Black Americans want a president who will truly fight to restore justice under the law, then we should do everything in our power to re-elect Donald Trump this November.
Since taking office in 2017, President Trump has repeatedly delivered on his pledge to reform our police, our courts, and our prisons. His recent executive order on “Safe Policing for Safe Communities” — a marvel of compromise and conciliation on a contentious issue — continues the same consistent pattern.
While Democratic Party politicians like Joe Biden were busy paying lip service to radical anarchists demanding the abolition of police, the president was crafting a new executive order to ensure law enforcement could continue to keep American communities safe while also modernizing and improving policing practices.
“Americans believe we must support the brave men and women in blue who police our streets and keep us safe,” the president explained while signing the document. “Americans also believe we must improve accountability, increase transparency, and invest more resources in police training, recruiting, and community engagement. Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals, they are not mutually exclusive; they work together.”
In an effort to prevent future unjust killings by the police, the groundbreaking executive order calls for prohibiting the use of chokeholds — with a narrow exception for circumstances when officers’ lives are in danger.
Moreover, the president’s initiative will offer grants to police departments that establish a solid track record of teaching and utilizing de-escalation techniques, and promotes accountability by creating a database of officers who are disciplined for excessive use-of-force — thereby ensuring that bad officers aren’t simply able to move from department to department.
The order also encourages collaboration between police officers and social workers when responding to incidents involving the homeless, the mentally ill, and those suffering from substance-abuse. “We will provide more resources for co-responders, such as social workers who can help officers manage these complex encounters,” the president explained.
Regrettably, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is utterly incapable of reforming our criminal justice system for the better, and his decades-long track record in government proves it.
Despite their pledge to reform American prisons and improve police standards across the country, for instance, Biden and former President Barack Obama failed to take the necessary steps to help make our communities safer. That’s not entirely surprising, since Biden was among the leading proponents of the unjust “tough-on-crime” sentencing laws that have taken generations of Black men from their families, loved ones, and communities over non-violent offenses.
“President Obama and Vice President Biden never even tried to fix this during their eight-year period,” Donald Trump said during his speech, adding that his predecessors simply had “no idea how to do it.”
President Trump, however, succeeded where his predecessors had failed. The “FIRST STEP Act” has retroactively corrected thousands of disproportionate sentences handed down prior to 2010. Over 90 percent of the non-violent prisoners who have been released are black, and a large number of them were imprisoned in Florida.
To make matters worse, Biden now caters to the interests of the radical left, even as it seeks to abolish the police departments that are fundamentally important for many Black communities. Instead of condemning Democratic lawmakers who are continuing to criticize the police, Biden has been careful not to upset his liberal base — and that should serve as a warning sign to Black voters who understand the value of investing in well-trained police officers.
Luckily for Black communities throughout America, the landmark executive order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities won’t be President Trump’s last criminal justice initiative. If we help re-elect Donald Trump this November, he will continue fighting to improve our police, our prisons, and our courts for four more empowering years.
Kiyan Michael is an Angel Parent of the late Brandon Randolph Michael and serves as a member of the Black Coalition for Trump advisory board.