President Trump calls Oakland 'violent' during 1st debate, claims democrats are to blame

ByLiz Kreutz and Lauren Gee KGO logo
Thursday, October 1, 2020
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- During the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Tuesday night, Pres. Trump mentioned the Bay Area, more specifically, the city of Oakland while sparring over the issue of race and law and order.

Following a summer of racial unrest and protests, the president called Oakland "violent" and blamed that democrats running the city were to blame.

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During the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Tuesday night, Pres. Trump said called the Oakland "violent" while sparring over the issue of race and law and order.

Trump: "During the Obama-Biden administration, there was tremendous division. There was hatred. You look at Ferguson, you look at -- you go to very -- many places. Look at Oakland, look what happened in Oakland, look what happened in Baltimore, look what happened -- frankly it was more violent than what I'm even seeing now."

Biden: "Oh, my lord."

Trump: "But the reason --"

Biden: "This is ridiculous."

Trump: is the Democrats that run these cities --

Biden: "Absolutely ridiculous."

Trump: "--don't want to talk, like you, about law and order."

This wasn't the first time the president made remarks about the East Bay city.

Following the death of George Floyd, he called Oakland "a mess" and suggested deploying federal agents into the area.

VIDEO: Gov. Newsom, Mayor Schaaf reject Trump's offer to deploy federal officers in Oakland

President Trump suggested he'll send federal agents into cities like New York, Chicago and Oakland in response to protests across the country. California Governor Newsom and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf were quick to reject Trump's offer.

In July, Oakland's Mayor Libby Schaaf was quick to respond and told ABC7 News that the city didn't need guards, they needed personal protective equipment to battle COVID-19.

After Tuesday night's debate, Oakland's mayor didn't tweet about the debate. Instead, she shared a video titled, "Oakland, we love you."

The first debate also featured heated clashes over the president's handling of the pandemic, the integrity of the election results, deeply personal attacks about Biden's family and how the Supreme Court will shape the future of the nation's health care. Trump also refused to condemn white supremacists who have supported him, telling one such group known as Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by.''

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AP contributed to this report.