DONALD TRUMP described himself as the "law and order" candidate Monday and pledged increased support for police in the wake of last week's mass killing in Dallas.
Citing rises in the killings of law enforcement officers, Trump told supporters in Virginia Beach that "our police officers rush into danger every single day to protect our communities, and they often do it thanklessly and under relentless criticism."
While most of his speech was devoted to veterans health care, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee took time to praise "the men and women in blue" as well as crime victims, just days after the Dallas attack and the police killings of African-American men in Louisiana and Minnesota.
READ MORE: The 'I'll sue you' effect: Donald Trump's history of litigation
Also declaring himself "the candidate of compassion," Trump vowed to improve conditions in "inner cities," where people live in fear of crime and need help, including improved police protection.
"Too many Americans are trapped in fear, violence, and poverty," Trump said.
"Law and order" is a familiar political slogan, one that Richard Nixon and allies used as far back as the 1968 election.
Critics of Nixon and subsequent Republican candidates who used the slogan described "law and order" as code words for cracking down on African Americans.
During his prepared speech in Virginia, Trump also pledged to investigate health care abuses at the Department of Veterans Affairs and again ripped into Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
The recent investigation into Clinton's use of private email while secretary of State shows "she's either a liar or grossly incompetent," Trump said. "Perhaps both."
Saying she should have been prosecuted over email of classified information, Trump said Clinton's entire career has been shadowed by "corruption and scandal."
READ MORE: Donald Trump praises former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein as terrorist killer
The pro-Clinton group Correct The Record mocked Trump's claims, noting that he once said he would like to punch a protester in the face and on another occasion discussed paying the legal fees of a supporter who did in fact punch a protester.
"He is no man of law and order — let alone compassion," the group said in statement.
In his discussion of veterans health care, Trump proposed an immediate investigation into alleged abuses at the VA, policy changes that would allow veterans to use any doctor anywhere and the appointment of an official whose sole job will be to "clean up the VA." The GOP candidate also pitched revamped jobs programs for veterans.
"You defend America, and America will defend you," Trump said to vets.
That also goes for police officers, Trump said: "We must maintain law and order at the highest level or we will cease to have a country."
Bishop Garrison, a deputy foreign policy adviser to the Clinton campaign, said in a statement after the speech: "Make no mistake about what Donald Trump just laid out. The policy reforms he proposed would put us irreversibly on a path toward the wholesale privatization of the VA."
READ MORE: The 'I'll sue you' effect: Donald Trump's history of litigation
Referring to the police shootings of black men, Trump said "the tragic deaths in Louisiana and Minnesota make clear that the work must be done to ensure, and a lot of work, that Americans feel that their safety is protected ... We have to get better, better, sharper, smarter.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article