Prominent Republicans are using the Black Lives Matter protests in the wake the death of George Floyd in 2020 as a way to push support for former President Donald Trump after he was convicted of 34 felonies.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr. shared a photo of Floyd with a text overlay that read, “Democrats: ‘I don’t know how you can support a felon.’”
“The mental gymnastics here are staggering!!!” he added in the caption.
The dig was a clear reference to comments made by Trump’s critics in the wake of his being found guilty on 34 counts related to falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 10% of registered Republican voters say they are less likely to vote for Trump due to his felony conviction.
Trump plans to appeal the conviction.
But Trump Jr. rejected the idea of not supporting someone based on a prior felony conviction, using the rallying around Floyd, who’d been convicted of charges including drug possession, theft, and trespassing, as an example.
Trump Jr.’s post using Floyd’s death to rebuke those not supporting Trump because of his conviction quickly came under fire from critics.
“Do not re-victimized a murdered man to defend your guilty father,” commented one user.
“George Floyd was murdered and wasn’t running for President,” wrote someone else. “The comparison is despicable.”
The prominent anti-Trump account Republicans Against Trump weighed in, writing: “‘George Floyd was a felon,’ and that’s why it’s ok to vote for a convicted felon to become president of the US is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Not wanting someone to be murdered and wanting them to be elected as president are famously the exact same thing,” quipped another person.
But Trump Jr. is not the only Republican to raise Floyd’s name in the aftermath of the hush money trial.
“We have Jamie Raskin in there accusing of us of worshipping Trump, worshipping a convicted felon,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said on Monday. “Well yeah, so was George Floyd.”
“The media worship George Floyd, Democrats worship George Floyd. There were riots burning down the fucking country over George Floyd,” she said, adding that she only worships God—not Trump.
In response, the Congressional Black Caucus said that Greene’s comments were “unhinged.”
“Her actions are unacceptable even by the lowest of Republican standards,” the caucus wrote. “George Floyd did not deserve to die, and a member of Congress should have the decency to acknowledge his humanity.”
However, the comparison has taken hold among Trump supporters.
“Don’t forget. Democrats supported a felon. George Floyd,” wrote one supporter on Truth Social.
“Funny Democrats supported a convicted felon….George Floyd,” wrote another.
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