‘Stoking the flames’: Democrats accuse Trump of stoking violence

Supporters of President Donald Trump and protesters hold banners as they wait for President Trump’s motorcade in front of the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, on Sunday, Aug.30, 2020 (AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta).

WASHINGTON – Democrats on Sunday accused President Donald Trump of attempting to inflame racial tensions and inciting violence to benefit his campaign while praising supporters who clashed with protesters in Portland, Oregon, where a man died overnight. , and announced that he will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin. , amid anger over the shooting of another black man by police.

Trump unleashed a series of tweets and retweets the day after a man identified as a supporter of a right-wing group was shot and killed in Portland when a large caravan of Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters clashed on city streets. .

Trump praised the caravan participants as “GREAT PATRIOTS!” and he retweeted those who blamed the city’s Democratic mayor for the death.

“The people of Portland, like all other cities and parts of our great country, want Law and Order,” Trump later tweeted. “Radical left-wing Democratic mayors, like the idiot who runs Portland, or the guy in his basement right now who’s not willing to lead or even speak out against crime, they will never be able to!”

Throughout the summer, Trump has labeled American cities besieged by violence and lawlessness, even though most protests against racial injustice have been largely peaceful.

With around nine weeks until Election Day, some of his advisers see an aggressive “law and order” message as the best way for the president to turn voters against his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, and win back. the support of suburban voters, particularly women. who have abandoned it.

But Democrats accuse Trump of encouraging unrest and trying to stoke more violence for political gain rather than trying to reduce tensions.

“You may think that the war on our streets is good for your chances of re-election, but that is not presidential leadership, not even basic human compassion,” Biden said in a statement in response to the shooting, in which he “unequivocally” condemned the violence. against everyone. side, while accused Trump of “recklessly encouraging him.”

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, blamed Trump for the tensions.

“Are you seriously wondering, Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that the United States has seen this level of violence?” he asked at a televised press conference. “It is you who has created hatred and division.”

Trump, who appeared to be watching, responded with real-time tweets labeling Wheeler a “crazy radical left-wing Democrat who does nothing.”

After a reporter told Wheeler about the tweet, the mayor responded, “I would appreciate if the president supports us or stays out of the way.”

Trump has called the upcoming elections a clash between “law and order” and anarchy, denouncing the protesters as “thugs” while staunchly defending the police. That issue was front and center at last week’s Republican National Convention, which used recent protest imagery to paint a violent and foreboding picture of the future if Biden denies Trump a second term.

Trump is expected to continue to broach that issue when he travels to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, where tensions remain high after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man, in the back seven times, paralyzing him.

The shooting has sparked new demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality months after George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked wider recognition of the race.

Trump will meet with law enforcement officials and “inspect” the damage in the city, where businesses have been vandalized and some buildings burned during the protests, White House spokesman Judd Deere announced.

But Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, asked Trump to reconsider in a letter Sunday.

“I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what their presence will mean for Kenosha and our state. I am concerned that your presence only hinders our healing. I am concerned that their presence will only delay our work to overcome the divide and move forward together, ”Evers wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press.

Earlier Sunday, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes also expressed concern about the visit. “I don’t know how, given the previous statements the president made, he intends to come here to help. And we absolutely don’t need it now, ”Barnes said in an interview with CNN.

Rep. Karen Bass, a California Democrat who leads the Congressional Black Caucus, said Trump is “doing everything he can to fan the flames.”
“I believe your visit has one purpose, and one purpose only. And that’s to shake things up and make things worse, “Bass said Sunday on CNN’s” State of the Union. “

“It is clear that his campaign is about law and order. It is a throwback to the past. And he will do everything he can to alter law and order in this time period. ”

Deere responded to critics by saying, “The only culprits for the violence and riots on our streets are the liberal politicians and their incompetent policies who have failed to control these destructive situations.”

Trump took days to comment on the Blake shooting, which was captured on cell phone video, and even then he had little to say.

“Well, I’m looking into it very carefully. I’ll get reports, ”he said in an interview in New Hampshire on Friday. “It was not a good view. I certainly didn’t like watching it, and I think most people would agree with that. “

Trump offered similar words: “We’re looking at it very, very carefully,” when asked on Saturday about Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old white boy who has been accused of fatally shooting two protesters and wounding a third Tuesday after travel to Kenosha, ostensibly to defend the city from protesters. Attorneys representing Rittenhouse, who was seen walking around with an assault rifle, have said he acted in self-defense.

But Trump on Sunday appeared to be supportive of the teenager when he liked a retweet of a series of messages that began, “Kyle Rittenhouse is a good example of why I decided to vote for Trump.”

The circumstances of the shooting Saturday night in Portland remain unclear. Video from the city shows sporadic fights between the groups, with Trump supporters firing paintball pellets at opponents and using bear spray as counter-protesters threw things at Trump’s caravan.

The murdered man was a member of Patriot Prayer, a right-wing group whose members have frequently clashed with protesters in Portland in the past, its founder, Joey Gibson, said Sunday.

Meanwhile, the White House and its allies continued to blame local leaders for allowing the protests to unfold night after night.

“When you encourage disdain for the police, you encourage criminals. When you do little or nothing to stop rioting, you foster anarchy. So when lawlessness and criminals are promoted, people’s lives are lost, “Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said on CNN’s” State of the Union. “

gsg

Read next

EDITOR’S SELECTION

MOST READ

Don’t miss the latest news and information.