President Donald Trump speaks to media before departing the White House on Marine One en route to Bedminster, N.J., on July 19, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Police Union Endorses Trump for 2020 Re-Election

A police union that represents more than 100,000 officers has announced it will be endorsing President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, according to a press release (pdf).

The International Union of Police Associations’ (IUPA) President Sam A. Cabral said on Sept. 9 that it was backing the president’s re-election, saying that Trump had “done more for Law Enforcement in the past two and a half years than was accomplished in the eight years that preceded his election.”

Cabral said Trump had made the community safer for police officers and civilians by signing an order to provide law enforcement agencies with military equipment, directing the Attorney General to prosecute offenders who attack law enforcement, providing funding to help employ more law enforcement officers, improving police access to mental health services, and resuming federal capital punishment.

“Every top Democrat currently running for this office has vilified the police and made criminals out to be victims,” Cabral said in the statement. “They seem to take any union’s support for granted. Many of them still refer to the tragedy in Ferguson as a murder, despite the conclusions of every investigative inquiry to the contrary. While his candor ruffles the feathers of the left, I find it honest and refreshing. He stands with America’s Law Enforcement Officer and we will continue to stand with him.”

This is not the first time a law enforcement union has endorsed Trump. Back in 2016, the nation’s largest police union Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) announced that it was backing Trump’s 2016 election campaign after more than two-thirds of its national board expressed support for the then-presidential candidate.

“[Trump] has seriously looked at the issues facing law enforcement today. He understands and supports our priorities and our members believe he will make America safe again,” Chuck Canterbury, the FOP’s national president, said at the time in a statement. FOP represents more than 346,000 members.

The @GLFOP has made an endorsement for President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/L5ydPsNauI — National FOP (@GLFOP) September 16, 2016

Meanwhile in May, thousands of International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) union members decided to create a social media group expressing their support for the president after their union leader endorsed former Vice President Biden’s 2020 bid for the White House.

“Our movement evolved from dedicated IAFF members, frustrated with our leaderships exploitation of our political capital to promote a political candidate/party whose values run contrary to those of our own,” the group’s description read. As of the date of writing, the Facebook group has over 25,200 members.

At the time, Trump thanked the firefighters for “rebelling on their very foolish leader.”

“The International Association of Firefighters Union is rebelling on their very foolish leader. Perhaps they will vote him out of office. He doesn’t get it!” he wrote.

The International Association of Firefighters Union is rebelling on their very foolish leader. Perhaps they will vote him out of office. He doesn’t get it! https://t.co/NmaasMxOLE pic.twitter.com/7tMG5NtvwO — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2019

The IUPA was chartered in 1979 and now serves members across the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Its mission is to protect and advance officers’ wages, benefits, and work conditions.