Where other leaders saw an overdue moment of racial reckoning, Trump saw an opportunity. Without much of a campaign theme and with the country still hobbled by the coronavirus, suddenly Trump had a law-and-order message. He would channel the backlash among white Americans and position himself as the defender of American heritage against the forces of political correctness. This was the best chance he had of changing the subject from the pandemic at a time when he was trailing Joe Biden by 10 percentage points in public polls.[8] His base would love it.
