As President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday encouraging changes to policing, he falsely accused his predecessor, President Barack Obama, of choosing not to tackle the issue. Here’s a fact-check.
WHAT WAS SAID
“President Obama and Vice President Biden never even tried to fix this during their eight-year period. The reason they didn’t try is because they had no idea how to do it. And it is a complex situation.”
False. The Obama administration tried to address police misconduct in numerous ways, and some of those efforts have been reversed or limited by the Trump administration.
“The assertion that the Trump administration has done more than the Obama administration is ridiculous,” said Barry Friedman, a law professor and director of the Policing Project at New York University School of Law. “The Obama administration has taken a number of critical steps in police reform.” Continue reading.