As U.S. reckons over race, Trump becomes a bystander

He wasn’t in the pews of churches in Minneapolis or Houston to memorialize George Floyd, the black man whose death sparked protests across the country. He hasn’t spoken publicly about the ways Floyd’s death during a police arrest has shaken the conscience of millions of Americans of all races. And he’s dismissed the notion of systemic racism in law enforcement, repeatedly putting himself firmly on the side of the police over protesters…

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Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, said a phone call from the president was “very brief” and the president “didn’t give me an opportunity to even speak.” Philonise Floyd praised a separate phone call he had with Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who also met with the Floyd family in person and recorded a video message that played at Tuesday’s funeral service.

On Wednesday, Trump held a roundtable with a handful of black supporters, including Housing Secretary Ben Carson. But rather than the president asking questions about their experience, those in the room largely just took turns heaping praise on Trump.

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