U.S. President Donald Trump accused on Monday state governors of being "weak" and called for tougher crackdowns on protesters in the wake of another night of violent protests in dozens of American cities.
Trump told the governors that they "should get much harder" amid protests in the nation and criticized their responses.
"Most of you are weak. You have to arrest people," Trump said.
The protests raged over the killing of George Floyd, who died while a policeman strangled him by putting his knee on his neck in Minneapolis.
Then, the protests turned violent in several cities, and they witnessed looting and chaos, as well as fire broke out in the famous park in front of the White House.
Trump Calls for Deployment of National Guard
The president urged the governors to deploy the National Guard, who was credited with helping to calm the situation on Sunday evening in Minneapolis.
Moreover, he called for similar crackdowns in cities that have also been spurred by violence, such as New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
"You have to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in prison for 10 years and you will never see these things again... We are doing this in Washington DC, we will do something that people have not seen before," Trump added.
The president told the governors that they are making themselves "look like fools" to not call in more National Guard to showcase force in the city's streets.
On his part, Attorney General William P. Barr, who was also took part in Monday’s conversation, told the governors that they should “control the streets” and urged them to “pursue the rioters.”
More than 4,000 people were arrested across the country during weekend demonstrations, according to the Associated Press. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daughter, Chiara, was among the hundreds of people arrested in the city after failing to disperse.
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