Trump rips Dems in Kenosha trip
Zeke Miller, Jonathan Lemire and Will Weissert
KENOSHA, Wis. — President Donald Trump dived into the latest eruption in the nation’s reckoning over racial injustice on Tuesday, touring the “destruction” left by violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and declaring that it was enabled by Democratic leaders.
Soon after arriving in the city, a visit made over the objections of some state and local leaders, Trump toured the charred remains of a block besieged by violence and fire. He spoke to the owners of a century-old store that had been destroyed, and he blasted the Democrats in charge of Kenosha and Wisconsin.
The city has been riven by protests since the Aug. 23 shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police as he was getting into a car while they were trying to arrest him. Protests were concentrated in a small area of Kenosha, and after more than 30 fires were set in the first three nights, the situation has calmed since then.
Before arriving, Trump told reporters the mayor of the city of 100,000 was “stupid” and “very foolish.” The president took credit for the recent calm, telling reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before stepping aboard Air Force One that Kenosha “would have been burned to the ground by now” if not for the intervention of the National Guard. “It all stopped immediately upon the National Guard’s arrival.”
Then he attacked Democratic Mayor John Antaramian, referencing a protest outside his house that Trump had watched on television.
“I saw last night where these radical anarchists were trying to get into the mayor’s house and lots of bad things were happening to this poor, stupid, very foolish mayor. How he could be mayor I have no idea, but all he has to do is call and within 10 minutes their problem will be over. As you know, they have to call us. They have to call and request help.”
The Wisconsin National Guard has been in the city for more than a week at the request of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, and federal law enforcement and National Guard troops from several other states joined later last week.
Trump’s motorcade passed throngs of demonstrators, some holding American flags in support of the president, others jeering while carrying signs that read Black Lives Matter. A massive police presence, including several armored vehicles, secured the area, and barricades were set up along several of the city’s major thoroughfares to keep onlookers at a distance from the passing presidential vehicles.
Trump toured a high school that had been transformed into a law enforcement command post. He had praise for the response but no words for the underlying cause of the anger: accusations of police violence.
Trump said of the unrest: “These are not acts of peaceful protest but, really, domestic terror.”
He did not initially mention Blake’s name; he said he tried to call the man’s mother but opted against it after the family asked that a lawyer listen in.
Repeating his apocalyptic attack lines, Trump again linked the radical forces he blamed for the violence to Democrats and their presidential nominee, Joe Biden, declaring that chaos could soon descend on other cities across America.
Biden in turn has assailed Trump over the deadly protests that have sprung up on his watch.
On the eve of his visit, Trump defended a teenage supporter accused of fatally shooting two men at a demonstration in Kenosha last week.
Claiming the mantle of the “law and order” Republican candidate, Trump insists that he, not Biden, is the leader best positioned to keep Americans safe. He said his appearance in Kenosha would “increase enthusiasm” in Wisconsin, perhaps the most hotly contested battleground state in the presidential race.
Blake’s family held a Tuesday “community celebration” at a distance from Trump’s visit.
“We don’t need more pain and division from a president set on advancing his campaign at the expense of our city,” Justin Blake, an uncle, said in a statement. “We need justice and relief for our vibrant community.”
The NAACP said Tuesday that neither candidate should visit the Wisconsin city as tension simmers. Biden’s team has considered a visit to Kenosha and has indicated that a trip to Wisconsin was imminent but has not offered details.
Information from the Los Angeles Times was included in this story.