Trump says he will visit Kenosha despite Democrat governor’s plea to ‘stay away because he’ll make things worse’
DONALD Trump has said he will travel to Kenosha on Tuesday despite a plea from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers asking him to reconsider the visit. The row follows protests in the city over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, which led to the deaths of two individuals and left countless others injured. Tweeting Monday, Trump […]
DONALD Trump has said he will travel to Kenosha on Tuesday despite a plea from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers asking him to reconsider the visit.
The row follows protests in the city over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, which led to the deaths of two individuals and left countless others injured.
Tweeting Monday, Trump said: “If I didn’t INSIST on having the National Guard activate and go into Kenosha, Wisconsin, there would be no Kenosha right now.
“Also, there would have been great death and injury.
“I want to thank Law Enforcement and the National Guard. I will see you on Tuesday!”
Trump’s tweets came after Evers wrote a statement Sunday evening asking the president to reconsider his visit.
“I understand yesterday you indicated you would be visiting Kenosha,” Evers said in the statement.
“I write today to respectfully ask you to reconsider.”
Evers lists a number of crises that have hit his state and the country at large, referring to the pandemic that has ravaged the nation and mass protests against police brutality.
“But this week has been particularly difficult. Kenosha and communities across Wisconsin are enduring extraordinary grief,” he wrote, mentioning the shooting of Blake and the subsequent killing of two protestors by an “out-of-state armed militant.”
Evers emphasized that he and other elected officials visited Kenosha and see “a community working to deal with the trauma and pain of these events and extreme loss.”
Although the city has gone through much damage, Evers writes, it is working to rebuild. However, he warns Trump’s presence could undo much of that work.
“I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state,” Evers continued. “I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”
Evers noted Trump’s recent comments regarding violence in Kenosha and cautioned that “now is not the time for divisiveness. Now is not the time for elected officials to ignore armed militants and out-of-state instigators who want to contribute to our anguish.”
Evers’ statement comes after Trump announced he would visit the city on Tuesday to inspect damage sustained during the riots – something Evers has said would not only add to the city’s anguish but would divert highly-needed funds that would instead be used for the president’s visit.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump will also meet with law enforcement officers while in the city. “The White House has been humbled by the outreach of individuals from Kenosha who have welcomed the President’s visit and are longing for leadership to support local law enforcement and businesses that have been vandalized,” Deere wrote to Evers.
“President Trump looks forward to visiting on Tuesday and helping this great city heal and rebuild,” Deere said.
In an interview Friday, Trump said he’s looking into Blake’s shooting and that’s part of the reason why he would like to visit Kenosha. Blake, a Black man, was shot seven times in the back on Aug. 23 by a white police officer, leaving Blake paralyzed from the waist down. Cops have said Blake, wanted on a sex assault warrant, was resisting police, shrugged off Tasers and had a knife in the vehicle where he was shot.
“Well, I’m looking into it very strongly. I’ll be getting reports,” Trump said about Blake’s shooting. “It was not a good sight. I didn’t like the sight of it, certainly, and I think most people would agree with that.”
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Evers isn’t the only Wisconsin official to have qualms about Trump’s visit. Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes told CNN he doesn’t think Trump’s visit will be constructive to Wisconsin’s rebuilding.
“You look at the incendiary remarks that the President has made, they centered an entire convention around creating more animosity and creating more division around what is going on in Kenosha,” he said.
“I don’t know how, given any of the previous statements that the president made, that he intends to come here to be helpful. And we absolutely don’t need that right now,” said Barnes.