Theatrics aside, what stood out most was his professed love for the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Trump spoke with indignation about "wild youth" and "drugged-out maniacs" spitting in the faces of uniformed officers. He didn't just demand respect for police, he also vowed to let cops "do whatever they want": "You spit, we hit, and they can hit real hard." It was pure red-meat rhetoric " designed to flatter police as heroes while giving his supporters a cathartic fantasy of unrestrained retribution. But as always with Trump, the show falls apart under the weight of his own record. Because on January 6, 2021, D.C. cops were bludgeoned with flagpoles, sprayed with bear mace, and crushed in doorways by Trump's supporters during the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Jonathan Allen noted on X that "Jan 6 was the largest violent crime event in DC in the modern era, and the largest assault on law enforcement."