Too-Busy-To-Read Donald Trump Makes A Controversial Book Recommendation, Sparks Outrage Amid Hurricane Harvey

Making book recommendations is apparently a new addition to President Donald Trump’s long resume. Trump, who famously declared that he does not read books, promoted one written by a controversial official on his personal Twitter account.

Trump recently plugged a book titled Cop Under Fire, a memoir written by Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, Jr. who was caught in a series of controversies after being accused of abusing his power and authority, the Daily Mail reported.

“A great book by a great guy, highly recommended!” POTUS said in his tweet. Cop Under Fire is subtitled “Moving Beyond Hashtags of Race, Crime and Politics for a Better America.”

Clarke is a staunch supporter of Trump. He most recently expressed his support for the president when he commended him for “not taking sides” in his speech addressing the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Newsweek reported. On the other hand, Trump’s remarks were heavily criticized for not directly condemning white nationalists and neo-Nazis and the racially-charged violence they staged.

African-American Clarke gained notoriety for his views on the Black Lives Matter movement, which he associated with promoting a “hateful ideology.” He was on the receiving end of criticism when he claimed that black Americans sell drugs “because they’re uneducated, they’re lazy, and they’re morally bankrupt.”

He’s also been very outspoken about immigration. Speaking with The Guardian, he said that he was planning to form part of his 800-man police force into special unit that will gather illegal immigrants and deport them pursuant to Trump’s immigration policies.

The fact that Trump is backing a supporter of his is no surprise. What surprised many, however, is the fact that he’s even making a book recommendation in the first place. Several reports have suggested that Trump is not a fan of books and reading in length.

Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter behind Donald Trump’s 1987 book The Art of the Deal, revealed to The New Yorker that in the 18 months he spent with the businessman to write the tome, he never saw a book on his desk, in his office, or anywhere in his apartment.

This notion was further enforced by more recent reports. Maggie Haberman of The New York Times wrote that Trump “does not read books.”

In an interview with The Washington Post, the president sounded more optimistic about his reading habits. He explained that he never has time to read because he’s “always busy doing a lot.”

He also told Axios earlier this year that he prefers reports and briefings handed to him in bullet form and to have as little content as possible.

“I like bullets or I like as little as possible. I don’t need, you know, 200-page reports on something that can be handled on a page. That I can tell you,” Trump said.

Interestingly, while POTUS makes a compelling case of being too busy to read, he has gone golfing at least 21 times between the start of his term to August 1, which is 10 times more than former President Barack Obama did during that period.

Meanwhile, many are criticizing Donald Trump for promoting Clarke’s book on Twitter ahead of addressing issues relating to Hurricane Harvey.

[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]