Nation’s cops riding Trump’s demagoguery to early death, public disruption.

It Donald Trump never existed, many if not most of the 460 cops killed by covid would still be serving and protecting. And Chicago Federation of Police (FOP) head John Cantanzara would not be threatening an illegal police sick out of up to 50% of cops patrolling Chicago’s shooting gallery this weekend.

Trump’s peculiar hold over most of his 75 million voters is most starkly exemplified by their adherence that pandemic is being exploited by Democrats to end democracy in America. Mask and especially vaccination mandates, in their adoring Trumpian view, have nothing to do with public health and everything to do with authoritarian control.

Nowhere does this detachment from political and social reality cause more harm than police rank and file, inspired by their union leaders, to refuse vaccination or even providing vaccination information to public officials.

The police, overall, idolize Trump. When he campaigned to ‘beat the shit out of anti-Trump demonstrators, and told police chiefs to ‘rough up’ bad guys being shoved into police cars, they roared their approval. As a cop I know informed me, “Trump has my back; Obama’s trying to get me killed.”

Chicago FOP chief John Cantanzara is among the worst in exploiting Trumpian demagoguery to gain notoriety and power within the police community. Fortunately, Chicago Mayor Lorrie Lightfoot, who doesn’t suffer demagogues lightly, sued Cantanzara and secured a Cook County judge to issue a restraining order against Cantanzara’s public safety threatening comments.

It wasn’t just the last year of Trump’s presidency that greatly expanded U.S. covid deaths. He’s still egging on his supporters to resist federal, state and local efforts to reduce our horrific death toll of 744,000. He’s being joined by mayors, governors, school boards and police union chiefs like John Cantanzara; all stoking fear and loathing of sensible pandemic stifling policies. They may not be bullets….but Cantanzara’s words, inspired by Trump, put his minions’ lives at risk.