The United States is making its comeback from a year in which it was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and the protests and riots following the death of George Floyd, President Donald Trump said in an interview airing Friday. Trump added that he thinks he can unite the country as it makes its return and as demand grows for nationwide police reform.
"We had, come out of nowhere, a plague comes in from China," Trump told Fox News' Harris Faulkner. "It just came in, and it came all over the world. It went all over the world. Looking at 186 countries, and they were devastated. We were certainly hit very hard. Some were hit harder than us, relatively. But we were hit very, very hard. Now we are making our comeback, and on top of it, we have the riots, which were unnecessary to the extent they were."
But before the pandemic, "we were riding high, the greatest economy in history," said Trump. "Then we got hit with this plague, this horrible plague, and it was devastating in many ways. Including the lives that were lost. That can never be regained."
However, economically, "next year we will have a fantastic year. I think we'll have a fantastic third quarter, but you can never replace their lives," said Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump said he watched the entire video of Floyd's death, but he also thinks some of the protesters did not know why they were there.
"A lot of them really were there because they were following the crowd [but] a lot of them were there because what we witnessed was a terrible thing," said Trump. "What we saw was a terrible thing. And we have seen it over the years. You know, this was one horrible example, but you've seen other terrible examples."
At the same time, there are "incredible people" in law enforcement, but a "bad apple" destroyed their image, said the president.
There has also been a call for police reform to eliminate chokeholds, which Trump agreed that he also does not like, but he warned that stopping them may not be so easy.
"Sometimes if you are alone and fighting somebody, it is tough," said Trump. "You get someone in a chokehold, what are you going to do? And it's a really bad person, and you know that, and they do exist ... what are you going to do? Let go and say, 'Let's start over, I'm not allowed to have you in a chokehold?' It's a tough situation."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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