As noted here recently, Detroit has been the unlikely exception to Democrat-run cities being torn up by BLM and Antifa violence.  President Trump has noticed it, too, and he knows who gets the credit.  "You have a great police chief," Trump told Detroit reporter Roop Raj not long ago in an interview for Fox-affiliated stations.

"I watch him," Trump said about Craig.  "I really like him a lot.  Say hello to him.  I think he's terrific.  I think he's just an incredible representative; he speaks so well about a very important subject, which is crime and rioting, and all the things you see in certain cities."

Trump's no doubt seen Chief Craig in TV interviews, where the Chief airs his unfashionable ideas about dealing with mostly not peaceful protesters by simply making it clear he's not going to stand for it.

But when you're the top cop in a one-party state like Detroit (one-party municipality, actually), being praised by a president whom Democrats will compare to Mussolini just for standing on a balcony is going to raise a few eyebrows.

When asked about what Trump said about him, Craig said, '"I'm humbled that the president of the United States would give me credit for wanting to keep law and order, but it's not about me; it's about the men and women of this police department who have done a phenomenal job during a pandemic and up through these protests of more than 100 days.'"

Craig knows that getting a shout-out from Trump has people wondering if he's Democrat or Republican.  He brings it up himself.

"I'm an American," Craig said.  "Why is everything left or right?  I get support from all sides — except the anarchists who want to undermine our government.  I'm an American police officer who claims no party but relies on doing what is right and common sense.  I align with both conservatives and liberals, depending on the issues."

Because Craig won't be bullied, a lawsuit was filed against the city and Craig by Detroit Will Breathe, the local Black Lives Matter franchise, claiming that Detroit police used excessive force while breaking up DWB's violent demonstrations.  William Goodman, the group's lawyer, didn't care for Craig accurately characterizing his clients as anarchists and Marxists.  "[T]rying to label them by political ideology is just a way of tarnishing people who don't agree with how he's running the police department," Goodman said.  He then immediately set about trying to tarnish Craig by saying the chief's opinion of violent protesters just proves '"he's voting for Donald Trump."'

Craig never said he's voting for Trump. I've never heard of Chief Craig getting involved in any partisan issue.  He says his feelings about violent protesters are apolitical, and why not?  Not so many years ago, anyone expressing the same opinions could do so without being automatically associated with one party or the other.

And you don't have to be a Republican to knock BLM for its openly Marxist ideology and violent methods, but these days you can't say those things without putting yourself at odds with Biden's and Harris's Democrat Party.  It's hardly proof you wear a MAGA in secret just because you sum up your political identity with "I'm an American."  After all, aren't Democrats constantly going on about "us Americans"?

It's just that, when Chief Craig says it, it's because he's proud of it.

T.R. Clancy looks at the world from Dearborn, Michigan.  You can email him at trclancy@yahoo.com.

Image: Click On Detroit | Local 4 | WDIV via YouTube.