Democrats: Pres. Trump’s Kenosha visit 'doesn’t help'
KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) – Democrats said President Donald Trump’s visit to Kenosha is making things worse not better for a community that needs time to heal, not political division.
“What has happened here in Kenosha leads directly to Donald Trump’s door,” Felesia Martin, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s vice chair said at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Democrats believe the president has failed to act as a unifier and has only amplified division in the days since the shooting of Jacob Blake as well as the shooting deaths of two protesters by a 17-year-old Illinois resident.
“To have someone come, and again, reject saying anything negative about militias or vigilantes, to reject talking about the true suffering that’s happening right now doesn’t help,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D – Wisconsin), a Kenosha native, said in a news conference. “In fact, it’ll fan the flames and the more you fan the flames that’s exactly what this community doesn’t want or need right now.”
For Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, the president’s visit is purely about politics and not about helping the community recover.
“This is a campaign stop. This is a chance for Donald Trump to meet people and talk to people that support him,” Barnes told CBS 58. “This isn’t about reaching out to law enforcement to see how we can solve the problems in American cities this is about Donald Trump reaching out to people that will be helpful to him in some sort of way.”