Donald Trump claimed “more white people” died under American law enforcement than black people, in an interview that appeared to dismiss concerns over racial-biases.
Asked by CBS News’ Catherine Herridge why black Americans continued to die in the hands of police, the US president responded by saying “so are white people”.
“So are white people, what a terrible question to ask. So are white people,” said president Trump. “More white people by the way. More white people.”
Those comments came as CBS interviewed the president on George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody more than a month ago.
The unarmed black man’s death sparked demonstrations against institutionalised racism and police brutality across the world.
The president, in contrast, labelled protesters as “thugs” and Black Lives Matter murals as “symbols of hate”.
Mr Trump, who described Floyd’s death as “terrible” on Tuesday, dismissed studies showing disproportionate black deaths under US police control.
One study showed black Americans being 2.8 times more prone to police-induced deaths than white people, who accounted for 52 per cent of all police victims but 76.3 per cent of the US population at the last census.
Another study, conducted in 2018, found that black men were 3.5 more likely to die at the hands of police than white men.
Mr Trump used Tuesday’s interview to denounce claims that the Confederate flag symbolised slavery.
“I know people that like the Confederate flag, and they’re not thinking about slavery,” the president said. “I just think it’s freedom of speech, whether it’s Confederate flags or Black Lives Matter or anything else you want to talk about. It’s freedom of speech.”
