Back in 1989, five black teenage men were wrongfully accused and charged with raping a female jogger in Central Park, the conversation around the Central Park Five spread like wildfire and soon everyone was talking about the case. Donald Trump took it upon himself to buy out the front page of the New York Times with a headline that read “Bring Back The Death Penalty” because he believed that the men accused of raping the woman should be sentenced to death. Since then, the men have been proven innocent. Years later, Trump is running in the 2016 election as the self-proclaimed “Law and order candidate” and no– he still has not accepted the exoneration of these men. He often speaks to the violence and crime in cities and how they can be assuaged with greater police force. 
I think it can be agreed upon that Trump has not been the best at sticking with a stance on a particular issue. We have seen him evolve and waver on many topics such as the “ban all Muslims” stunt he pulled earlier in the campaign trail. However, his stances on our criminal justice system in the United Stated has remained unchanged. This is one of the few instances that we have seen actual consistency from Trump.
We even saw Trump send open support during the 90s to New York mayor Rudy Giuliani for implementing “stop and frisk” and other police crack down methods. He still talks about this today and how it allegedly lowered the crime rates in the city.
To think about Trump’s stance in a communicative way, this is about a narrative. Trump’s narrative on law and order didn’t begin when the campaign did or during any particular event. It seems very consistent throughout his adult life, and that is reassuring for a lot of people.
I agree with a lot of the points you are making. Trump’s narrative on law and order have been happening his whole life and not just on his campaign. You would think with him being the law and order there would be equity, and fairness and even justice for all. With his life story including his stances on the death penalty, bans on Muslims, the implementation of stop-n-frisk, and increase in law enforcement during this time of social unrest, this shows a different narrative that may not be best and supported by a lot of voters and Americans.