Patrick Yoes, president of the 350,000-member Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the nation’s largest police union, said on September 5 that his organization’s members have endorsed President Trump for reelection because of the president’s strong call for law and order. Yoes announced his union’s support of Trump in an interview with Neil Cavuto on the Fox News Cavuto Live program, the day after the union officially made the announcement.
“Overwhelmingly it was unanimous to support President Trump,” Yoes told Cavuto.
“We’ve worked very closely with President Trump over the last four years on many initiatives,” Yoes continued. “One of them was the First Step Act, which is the largest police reform act that’s happened in recent time. And we were very proud to be the only labor organization that stood and recognized that we want to find ways to improve and better the criminal justice system.”
Yoes noted that among the initiatives where the FOP has worked with Trump are the president’s executive orders on law enforcement reform amid a stalemate in Congress. Back on June 16, Trump signed an executive order titled “Safe Policing for Safe Communities,” stating afterwards: “Both public safety and public trust are crucial to the law enforcement mission.” In a tweet sent the night before he signed the order, Trump said: “Tomorrow’s Executive Order will uphold clear and high policing standards, promote accountability in law enforcement, and help equip police officers for constructive community engagement.”
Yoes summarized the good working relationship his union has had with the president and how he has been responsive to their input, noting: “I can tell you, as an organization, we have reached out to the president on a number of occasions to talk about a number of issues on the stability of law enforcement, and not once have we walked away without having very meaningful dialogue and results.”
The FOP is not the only police union to have endorsed the president. On August 23, Thomas Mungeer, the president of New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, which represents almost 6,000 active and retired officers, told the New York Post that his union would support Trump.
“Donald Trump has our back,” Mungeer told the Post. “President Trump has supported us when so many people have turned against us.”
Mungeer also told the newspaper that Joe Biden “supported cops in the past but he’s turned his back on us.”
Just nine days prior to that, Patrick Lynch, president of the 24,000-member New York City Police Benevolent Association (NYCPBA), the largest law enforcement union in the state, also formally backed Trump’s reelection. Lynch announced:
I have 36 years in this job, 21 as a president of this fine organization. I cannot remember when we’ve ever endorsed for the office of president of the United States until now. That’s how important this is.
Mr. President, we are fighting for our lives out there. We don’t want this [violent protesting and anti-police rhetoric] to spread to the rest of this country.
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NYC Police Union: City Leaders “Cowards,” NYPD Should Stop Enforcing Social Distancing
Photo (police presence at Trump rally): shakzu/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus
Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at [email protected].
