WASHINGTON _ Kansas Republican Steve Watkins liked Facebook posts describing police officers as "thug criminals" and racist a few years before he became a candidate for the House and gained the full-throated backing of President Donald Trump _ an enthusiastic defender of the police.
Watkins, a political newcomer, got a major boost earlier this month when Trump came to Topeka in support of his campaign.
Trump has persistently decried protests against police as unpatriotic.
