RPT: OPINION - EU Leaders' Hesitancy To Attend G7 Summit Constitutes 'Formal Attack' On Trump

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2020) The hesitancy of leading European politicians to attend the rescheduled G7 summit in Washington in September is an attack on President Donald Trump over his handling of the ongoing civil unrest in the United States after the death of George Floyd, an African-American male, in police custody, Thierry Mariani, a French lawmaker in the European Parliament, told Sputnik.

On Sunday, Trump announced that a G7 summit initially scheduled to take place in June will be postponed until September, although the meeting will take place in person.

In the wake of Trump's statement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel refused the invitation, and European Council President Charles Michel said that he would only attend if public health conditions allow, referring to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Mariani, who previously served as a minister in former President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, European leaders are showing their displeasure with Trump over the ongoing civil unrest in the United States, which has seen police open fire on protesters in multiple cities.

"It is a sly, formal attack on Trump," Mariani commented.

Europe's leaders appear to be throwing their weight behind Joe Biden, the Democrat candidate in November's presidential election, the French lawmaker, who represents the National Rally party in the European Parliament, said.

"With their refusal to go to Washington for the G7 [summit], the main European governments are probably indicating their refusal to speak to Trump again until the November elections, when Europe hopes to see Joe Biden win. If Trump is reelected, Europe will pay dearly for it," Mariani remarked.

Commenting on the ongoing public unrest in the United States, Mariani stated that European lawmakers were focusing their disapproval on the wrong person, as Trump was not responsible for the events that took place in Minneapolis that resulted in George Floyd dying while in police custody.

"Europe has chosen its side. Of course, police violence in Minneapolis is unacceptable and must be punished, but Trump has nothing to do with it, he called it 'a tragedy' in his own words, but that does not prevent an extreme episode of 'Trump bashing' by Democrats and the media," the French lawmaker said.

The pressure on Trump has also increased as the president faced criticism from leading social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, over an executive order signed on Thursday that could lead to the repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This legislation provides online platforms protection from civil liabilities for removing harmful or illegal content.

The president announced the plans to repeal Section 230 after Twitter flagged several of his posts for potentially providing misleading information and breaking the platform's policy on glorifying violence.

"[Trump] is simultaneously attacked by Twitter and other social media that are practicing censorship. Twitter enters the election campaign by blocking Trump's account, already several times," Mariani said.

According to the lawmaker, social media networks already have almost unchecked power in France after the parliament adopted a controversial online hate speech bill, the so-called Avia law, on May 13. Under the new law, social media firms and other websites will have just one hour to delete harmful content posted online.

"In Europe it's even worse. The Avia law in France has delegated the 'regulation' of the internet, the censorship of messages to private companies: Facebook, Twitter, Google ... Until now, citizens had recourse to the courts. For any defamatory tweet, there are possible appeals to the courts. Here, now, thanks to President Macron, Facebook and Twitter will apply justice themselves, on behalf of the state," Mariani remarked.

On Friday morning, Twitter flagged a tweet by Trump for breaching the site's rules on glorifying violence. The US president suggested that soldiers may open fire if looting in the city of Minneapolis continues, in the wake of George Floyd's death.

Floyd died on May 25 after he was arrested by law enforcement officials in the northern city for allegedly using a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill to make a purchase in a store.

One day later, a bystander's video appeared online showing a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Floyd's neck while the latter was lying prone on the floor, already in handcuffs. Floyd later died in hospital and Chauvin has since been arrested and charged over the incident.