Prominent Democratic Rep. Michigan’s Debbie Dingell says she’s skeptical of polling that Joe Biden is consistently running for President Trump in her home state and said Democrats should work hard to prevent another Trump victory.
Four years ago, Dingell said Trump could win the traditional blue state of Michigan and now the congresswoman is sharing a similar warning that Michigan is not locked up for Biden.
“I think it’s a competitive race,” Dingell told Fox News. “I do not believe the polls and I will not stop working until election day.”
Rep.Debbie Dingell, D-Mich, speaks to journalists on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, December 18, 2019. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh)
Adding to the volatility of the election is the racial unrest and distrust of the police who are sowing in cities after the repeated murder and shooting of Black Americans – mostly Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back by police in Kenosha, Wis.,.
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Last night at the Republican National Convention, Trump and his allies tried to drive home the message that Republicans are the law and order party, while Democrats support the looting and rioting that has occasionally erupted in cities where protests have taken place. to have ,
Dingell said Trump has tried to make law and order a “wedge issue” and Democrats should push back on the mischaracterizations of Biden and the Democratic Party.
“I highlighted this issue two months ago because I could see people trying to use it as a wedge issue and I think it’s very important that Democrats don’t let that happen,” Dingell said. “Here’s a reality. We have Kenosha who is on fire because another Black man was shot in the back for his three children. And we have no explanation today.”
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“The country saw George Floyd murdered,” she continued. “If you are a black man against a white man, you will be treated differently. They give courses in this country if you are a black man or woman who is stopped by the police what you should do, you do not to be killed. We have to deal with it. But that does not mean that we support anarchy or destruction, looting and all these things that people say from the stage at the Republican convention. I support my legal action. “
“I know Joe Biden is committed to supporting the police,” Dingell added.
Polling in Michigan has Biden consistently found Trump defeated in the Great Lakes State. The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Biden ahead by 7 percentage points.
At the same time in 2016, Hillary Clinton led by 9 percentage points. Her margin was 3.6 percentage points in Michigan on election day.
A Protestant throws an object at police in clashes outside Kenosha County Courthouse late Tuesday, August 25, 2020 in Kenosha, Wis., On the third night of unrest following the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, whose lawyer said he was paralyzed after being shot multiple times by police. (AP Photo / David Goldman)
Michigan – along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – are major battlefield states in 2020 after Trump won all three narrowly in 2016 and overshadowed the Electoral College windfall to secure the presidency.
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Trump’s campaign makes a game for suburban voters in these swing states who claim, without proof, that Biden would drive anarchists crazy and threaten their security. Biden, however, has condemned the violence and has not campaigned for police deployment, despite such demands from Black Lives Matter activists.
“I always try to be civil. But the fear and hate-mongering that has gone on the last few nights is just not acceptable,” Dingell said of the RNC.
She said Democrats support policing while still acknowledging that there are issues about race relations that need to be addressed.
“I will not let anyone paint me or most of my Democratic colleagues as someone who supports … these fires and this looting,” Dingell said. “But I support the fact that we need a leader. We need a leader who does not put kerosene on fire, that will say, ‘We have a problem.'”
Dingell cites Kenosha as the latest example of racial differences in police interactions after two people were shot dead and a third injured.
Kyle Rittenhouse, a White 17-year-old from Illinois, was charged Thursday afternoon with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Rittenhouse had come to Kenosha as part of a self-described “local militia” to tackle the unrest following Blake’s shooting, the Journal Times reported. Video shows police giving Rittenhouse water and telling his group, “We appreciate you, we really do” not long before Rittenhouse allegedly killed the Protestants, the paper reported.
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“Have you seen the videos?” Dingell said about Rittenhouse. “The police thanked him for being there. Offered him water. He shot one and walked down the street.”
“That white militia young man who was raised to hate killed two people and was run over by policemen. If a Black young man, 17 years old, was running with a gun by law enforcement … he would have been on the ground. And what scares me is I do not even know if he would still be alive today to talk about what he did. “
L. Lin Wood, the same lawyer who represented Nicholas Sandmann, has filed a legal defense for Rittenhouse, tweeting that “help is on the way” for the youth.
Rittenhouse’s lawyer said the teen acted in self-defense. Mobile footage shows the shooter being chased by someone to a party of a used car before shots are heard and the person is killed. The shooter then walks down the street where he is being chased by several people shouting that he just shot someone. He stumbles after being approached by multiple people and fires, killing another man and injuring a third.
“From my point of view, it’s important that the message is clear to other Americans who are being attacked that there will be legal resources available if false charges are brought against them,” Wood said. “Americans should never be deterred from exercising their right to self-defense.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
