President Obama's top spokesman wouldn't say why the Obama administration is rejecting requests to illuminate the White House in blue to honor police officers gunned down in Dallas and now Baton Rouge, La.
"I don't suspect that that is something that we will do," press secretary Josh Earnest answered on Monday when asked if the administration will acquiesce to calls from police departments and others to do so.
But when asked why not, Earnest had no ready answer, except to highlight all the other steps the White House has taken to support police.
"Obviously the president did travel to Dallas" for last week's memorial service for that city's five slain police officers there, Earnest said.
Earnest pointed out that Obama met with the officers' families and other Dallas police while he was in Texas. He also ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff "to reflect the mourning that our nation had engaged in for the police officers in Dallas."
Additionally, Obama met with law enforcement twice at the White House last week, including a four-hour meeting that brought law enforcement together with community leaders and activists, Earnest said.
The White House has been illuminated in other colors before to mark its support for various causes. In 2013, for example, it was lit up in pink for breast cancer awareness, and in 2015, the White House was lit in the LGBT rainbow to show support for same-sex marriage.
Earnest insisted that the White House supports cop, despite this symbolic move.
"All of this is an indication of just how strongly the president feels about the need to show our strong support for our men and women in law enforcement," Earnest said, including Obama's "strong" condemnation of the ambush that left three Baton Rouge officers dead over the weekend.
"The president dedicated a lot of time to this, both in substance and in symbolism," Earnest said. "The president's strong support for American law enforcement officers is crystal clear."
Obama believes that the "vast majority" of the nation's police do "heroic work" that is "worthy of our respect and our praise — and not our scorn. The president feels quite strongly about that."
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