Donald Trump’s Ridiculous Embrace of Black Lives Matter

The Black Lives Matter movement, such as it is, manages to evade scrutiny by hiding behind its nebulous structure. BLM is a constellation of a variety of nonaligned activist organizations, its supporters insist. But BLM is also an idea — a movement in the streets arrayed around a set of broadly defined policy goals. In retreating to this vagueness, BLM’s members can take credit for the noble intentions BLM activists retail while simultaneously denying any culpability for the havoc BLM activists also cause. But while the phenomenon is deliberately formless, we can evaluate BLM’s objectives based on the actions of the movement’s self-styled proponents.

BLM activism gave way to the Biden administration’s holistic approach to introducing “equity” into its governance — a program that led Democrats at all levels of government to violate the 14th Amendment’s equal-protection clause on more than one occasion. Its leaders have endorsed the actions of cop killers and terrorists. BLM activists advocated slavery reparations, defunding police departments, dismantling of capitalist economics, and the elimination of cash bail for misdemeanors and serious crimes alike. And in the summer of 2020, those involved in the riots that convulsed nearly every major American city rallied around BLM banners.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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The Black Lives Matter movement, such as it is, manages to evade scrutiny by hiding behind its nebulous structure. BLM is a constellation of a variety of nonaligned activist organizations, its supporters insist. But BLM is also an idea — a movement in the streets arrayed around a set of broadly defined policy goals. In retreating to this vagueness, BLM’s members can take credit for the noble intentions BLM activists retail while simultaneously denying any culpability for the havoc BLM activists also cause. But while the phenomenon is deliberately formless, we can evaluate BLM’s objectives based on the actions of the movement’s self-styled proponents.

BLM activism gave way to the Biden administration’s holistic approach to introducing “equity” into its governance — a program that led Democrats at all levels of government to violate the 14th Amendment’s equal-protection clause on more than one occasion. Its leaders have endorsed the actions of cop killers and terrorists. BLM activists advocated slavery reparations, defunding police departments, dismantling of capitalist economics, and the elimination of cash bail for misdemeanors and serious crimes alike. And in the summer of 2020, those involved in the riots that convulsed nearly every major American city rallied around BLM banners.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.