John Legend has had plenty of reasons to beef with Pres. Trump lately. But on Wednesday (July 22) he found out what happens when administrations stop being polite and things start getting real. “I wasn’t briefed on #OperationLegend. Dare I look this up or should I carry on thinking the president is starting some sorta stan campaign for me,” Legend wrote after it was revealed that Trump and AG William Barr borrowed the “All of Me” singer’s surname for the title of their surge of federal troops into a handful of American cities.
After sending unmarked, camouflage-wearing federal troops into Portland to purportedly protect federal property from rioters there, Trump announced on Wednesday that similar groups of agents from the FBI, U.S. Marhsals, DEA and ATF will be pushed into Chicago and Albuquerque, with Baltimore and Philadelphia also on the list, purportedly to help stop what the administration has claimed is an uptick of violence in those cities, often in opposition to the wishes of local authorities; the operation is actually named for four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed in his sleep on the morning of June 29 in Kansas City, Missouri.
“373 homicides in Chicago in 2020 as of early July. Over 4,000 COVID 19 deaths. All of these deaths matter, and every life is precious,” wrote Legend. “But it’s clear Trump has no interest in healing people / saving lives. Just in waging war to look tough for reelection. Usually the Wag the Dog scenario is to go to other countries to start a war when your polls are in the tank. Nope. Trump just wants to wage war on America’s neighborhoods.”
Eventually, Legend did his homework and found out it was not about him and he was even angrier that the federal government was taking this action “In the middle of a once in a century pandemic where the US has far more deaths than any other country and unemployment is sky high, POTUS decides the states are just fine dealing with the pandemic, but need the feds policing black neighborhoods.”
The troop deployment to cities, all controlled by Democrats, has elicited an angry reaction from governors and other state and city officials, who the New York Times reported have dubbed it an “election-year ploy” as the president’s poll numbers continue to sink amid the administration’s chaotic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic collapse it has unleashed, with the presidential election just 103 days away.
“I’m going to do something — that, I can tell you,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier this week. “Because we’re not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all of these — Oakland is a mess. We’re not going to let this happen in our country. All run by liberal Democrats.”
Check out Legend’s tweets below.
I wasn't briefed on #OperationLegend. Dare I look this up or should I carry on thinking the president is starting some sorta stan campaign for me.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) July 22, 2020
373 homicides in Chicago in 2020 as of early July. Over 4,000 COVID 19 deaths. All of these deaths matter, and every life is precious. But it's clear Trump has no interest in healing people / saving lives. Just in waging war to look tough for reelection.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) July 22, 2020
Welp, I looked it up. In the middle of a once in a century pandemic where the US has far more deaths than any other country and unemployment is sky high, POTUS decides the states are just fine dealing with the pandemic, but need the feds policing black neighborhoods https://t.co/8NcP31QK0m
— John Legend (@johnlegend) July 22, 2020