On Friday the President tried to explain away his tweets criticizing Minneapolis protesters, sticking to his assertion that “looting leads to shooting” but refuted the characterizations that he was inciting violence.

“Looting leads to shooting, and that’s why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night – or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot. I don’t want this to happen, and that’s what the expression put out last night means,” Trump tweeted Friday afternoon, shortly before a scheduled press conference in the White House Rose Garden.

“It was spoken as a fact, not as a statement. It’s very simple, nobody should have any problem with this other than the haters, and those looking to cause trouble on social media,” the president continued. “Honor the memory of George Floyd!”

Trump sparked outrage overnight when he attacked Minneapolis’s Democratic mayor and criticized protesters demonstrating in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a police officer pinned him to the ground by kneeling on his neck while arresting him.  

Crowds cheered as the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct was burned during the subsequent riots.

In his now-infamous tweet, Trump called the protesters “thugs” and appeared to threaten military action in Minneapolis if the violence persisted.

“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way,” Trump tweeted. “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

The president’s statement was widely construed as a threat to those protesting Floyd’s death, which was captured on bystander cell phone video earlier this week and prompted an intense backlash. Floyd was shown on video pleading with officers that he couldn’t breathe as the white officer knelt on his neck.

The phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” was initially used by Miami Police Chief Walter Headley in 1967 during the civil rights movement when the city had a history of aggressive policing against People Of Color.

Twitter had to add a warning label to Trump’s tweet, saying it violated the company’s policies by “glorifying violence.” Trump has slammed the social media giant, accusing the company of censoring tweets from himself and other conservatives.

When asked about the phrase’s racially charged origin at the White House later on Friday, Trump claimed he wasn’t aware of the origins of the phrase and that he heard it from “other places.”

“I don’t know where it came from, I don’t know where it originated. I don’t know anything like that,” Trump said.