George Floyd: Trump says 'something snapped' in officer who knelt on victim's neck for almost nine minutes

'Nothing good comes out of that. Nope, that was a very bad thing'

Donald Trump said "something snapped" in the ex-Minneapolis cop who knelt on the neck of George Floyd, leading to his death and the week of protests and riots that followed.

In an interview with his former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, Mr Trump said a terrible thing happened in the death of Mr Floyd.

"It was a terrible thing; it should never have happened; something snapped, I think, with the policeman, and the other three watching it were – I guess you can't put it in the same category, but it was certainly in a very bad category," Mr Trump said.

"Nothing good comes out of that. Nope, that was a very bad thing."

Derek Chauvin was filmed kneeling on the neck of Mr Floyd for almost nine minutes as he said "I can't breathe" and pleaded for his mother, while three other officers failed to intervene.

All four were fired and have been charged over the death.

Speaking during an interview on Spicer & Co aired on Newsmax TV on Wednesday, Mr Trump criticised the mayor of Minneapolis for his handling of the death in police custody.

An outpouring of grief over the death spread from Minneapolis through the rest of the United States and across the globe; starting with peaceful protests but also including incidents of destructive looting and violent riots.

Mr Trump called Mayor Jacob Frey a super liberal who was "crying" rather than taking action in the aftermath.

"The liberal mayors, they'll keep you locked up, but when it comes to the looting and everything, they're very weak on crime," Trump said, referring to the strict coronavirus lockdowns in Democrat states.

"Super-liberal mayor, he was crying. It's not nice, but the mayor can't cry in cases like that. We have a very different attitude on things. I am law and order, they're not. If they're not for law and order, you're going to lose the country."

The president has been criticised for his crackdown on looters and rioters following a week of protests and demonstration, with a show of force on Monday as armed police cleared Lafayette Square before a photo-op at St John's Church.

Mr Trump said a passive approach that local leaders took as the protests turned violent didn't work, and was a sign of their inconsistency when compared to the firm action on coronavirus lock-downs.

"We want to be back to normal, but it's a little bit soon, but I watch these protesters – and they're the ones all claiming social distancing and everything else – it's really interesting," Mr Trump said.

"They do that and then they're jumping on top of each other by the thousands when they're screaming and ranting and raving, which is not a good thing."