By Mona Austin
(The Slice): In a press briefing at the White House on Friday Trump spoke out about the unrest that ensued following the death of George Floyd, a Minnesota man who was suffocated to death by a police officer placing his knee on his neck. Throughout his term in office, the president has been a person of ill repute concerning race relations, yet the nation wanted to hear directly from him.
He has tweeted and answered questions posed by reporters about it. He spoke about the seemingly unjustified death in the at the Kennedy Space Center ahead of the Space X launch and during a round table discussion with business executives at the White House too. However, until Monday evening appearance i the White house Rose Garden, Trump avoided making an official statement about the escalated racial tension in America due to Floyd's death to the dissatisfaction of many in the media and everyday citizens who wanted to hear from the leader of the nation during a time of civil unrest.
For the record, the Slice has documented one of Pres. Trump's earliest reactions to the
BELOW IS An EXCERPT OF QUOTES ON THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD BEFORE HE DEPARTED THE WHITE HOUSE FOR THE SPACE X LAUNCH ON MAY 30:
"Our nation's deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the family of George Floyd," Trump said.
Trump said he asked the DOJ to expedite "the investigation into his death."
"It's a terrible thing. We all saw what we saw ... and it's very hard to conceive of anything other than what we did see," said Trump.
Trump said be "spoke to members of the family, terrific people."
"We also have to make the statement that it's very important that we have peaceful protesters," Trump continued.
Trump said he did not want the situation to "descend further into lawless anarchy and chaos."
The president said it was important for the memory of George Floyd to "be a perfect memory." He also said the "looters" should not "drown out peaceful protesters."
