March 29, 2017
John McNesby, president of Philadelphia's Fraternal Order of Police, was one of a handful of police union leaders from across the country to meet with President Donald Trump on Tuesday – a meeting that McNesby called "genuinely good."
Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the group talked about police equipment, funding, the nationwide opioid epidemic and sanctuary cities for about an hour, he said Wednesday.
"I believe that [Trump] does have a soft heart for law enforcement," McNesby said. "I believe he cares about the men and women protecting communities.
Though, the public took note of something else entirely from the meeting. Trump and nine others met with media afterwards where a viral video was born – one that McNesby was quick to debunked and call "ridiculous."
The video, which took off on social media, shows Trump talking about the importance of not making mistakes, especially when on live TV.
"One mistake, and it's no good. We just can't make mistakes, so we just don't make mistakes," Trump said and then turned to his left and introduced the man sitting next to him. "Go ahead, Ken."
Chuck Canterbury, the National President of the Fraternal Order of Police promptly introduced himself as "Chuck."
IDIOT IN CHARGE TRUMP: We don’t make mistakes.
— RogelioGarcia Lawyer (@LawyerRogelio) March 29, 2017
[immediately makes a mistake] take it away Ken
"I'M CHUCK... pic.twitter.com/o64TteEax8
"We just can't make mistakes, right? So we don't make mistakes. Go ahead, Ken..."
— Derrick Shannon (@drs2222) March 28, 2017
"I'm Chuck..."@MichelleDBeadle @FakeCoachPop pic.twitter.com/imdamOpvel
Trump: "We can't make mistakes, right? So we don't make mistakes. Go ahead, Ken."
— Ross Bolen (@WRBolen) March 29, 2017
Ken: "Uh...Chuck Canterbury..." pic.twitter.com/i86eNbg8Eo
McNesby, who said he wasn't aware of the video when he spoke to PhillyVoice on Wednesday morning, clarified that "Ken" is actually Canterbury's real first name.
"I can't believe that's even news," he said "That's ridiculous."
The C-SPAN video doesn't focus on Canterbury's nametag, which in other photos taken Tuesday show that it says, "Kenneth." Though, he's known as "Chuck" – which noted on his Twitter account and biography page on the FOP's website.
"That's crazy," McNesby said in defense of Trump. "The guy's going to make mistakes, but that's not a mistake."
With the fraternal order of police in the Oval Office - after a great listening session in the Roosevelt Room at the @WhiteHouse. pic.twitter.com/lIBJ5gOVOz
— President Trump (@POTUS) March 28, 2017
Timothy Richardson, senior legislative liaison for the FOP confirmed that Canterbury's full name is Kenneth, and he goes by his middle name, Charles. He said Trump called Canterbury "Chuck" throughout the day, but kept it formal for the meeting with the press.
"It didn't bother us at all, and we want to make it clear too that he wasn't correcting the president," Richardson said.
Jokes aside, McNesby said he looks forward to working with Trump's administration for the next four years.
"I thought it was a good start," he said. "We're going to continue the dialogue."
The video below is a longer clip of Trump's meeting with FOP leaders, including McNesby.
