At Thursday night’s ABC News Town Hall, “The President and the People: A National Conversation,” Republican Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick believes President Barack Obama has let down law enforcement by not putting forth his full support in the wake of the Dallas shooting last week that claimed five officers’ lives.
“I’m concerned that police officers across the country — they know you support law enforcement of course, but do they really in their heart feel like you’re doing everything you can to protect their lives?” Patrick asks rhetorically. “Words matter, your words matter much more than mine. Everything you say matters. And I would ask you to consider being careful when there is an incident of not being too quick to condemn the police without due process and until the facts are known.”
The president answered in an honest way to condemn any accusations that he is not fully supporting officers in the line of duty.
“I have been unequivocal in condemning any rhetoric directed at police officers,” Obama responds slyly. “So I think, Lt. Gov., you’d have to find … any message that did not include a very strong support for law enforcement in all my utterances dating back to Ferguson, because I rely on law enforcement to protect me and my family, just like everybody else does.”
Obama adds that he has “insisted throughout all these processes that law enforcement is deserving of due process just like everybody else.”
“I’m aware that my words matter deeply here.”
