WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nexstar) — President Trump says he’ll support the GOP police reform bill introduced Wednesday morning by Republican Senator Tim Scott.
And he says he’s not afraid of a second wave of COVID-19.
But even as the economy begins to recover, he did not rule out another round of coronavirus stimulus checks.
In a one-on-one interview with Anna Wiernicki, Trump said he’s not done with efforts to jump-start the economy devastated by the coronavirus.
“I think we are looking at a Phase 4,” said Trump. “Phase 1, 2 and 3 have been fantastic for people generally, small businesses owners also, but we are looking at doing something else in addition.”
While he says a second stimulus check could be coming this summer, he says he’s not concerned about a second wave of COVID-19.
That’s despite reports of cases increasing in some states – including Oklahoma, where he’s holding his first rally this weekend in Tulsa.
“We have over a million requests for tickets. There has never been anything like that. Nobody has ever heard of such a thing.”
Wiernicki’s interview came one day after Trump met with the families of victims of police brutality. The President said it was important to sign his executive order on police reform.
“We have great police, great law enforcement,” said Trump. “But you have people that make mistakes and you have some bad ones too.”
He said he’s also on board with the Senate Republican police reform bill that was unveiled Wednesday morning.
But he says the fate of further police reform is now up to the Democrats, who he says have threatened to block the bill in the Senate.
“Let’s see what happens with the Democrats. They want to have — I mean they literally want to defund our police and frankly, they would abolish our police if we weren’t here.”
While most Democrats don’t want to “abolish” police, many do want to make it easier to sue officers and police departments for violent acts. Wiernicki asked the president if it’ll be more difficult to unite the country in the midst of nationwide protests over racial injustice.
“I don’t think so,” said Trump. “There is a great feeling. I think there is just a great pride in the country.”
