President Donald Trump said on Monday that he will stick to his plan to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, despite public pleas from state Democrats to cancel.
“I will see you on Tuesday!” Trump wrote on Twitter:
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2020
The president announced Saturday night that he will visit the city on Tuesday to meet with law enforcement and survey damage from recent riots after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian said Sunday that the president’s visit would not be a good idea.
“Realistically, from our perspective, our preference would have been for him not to be coming at this point in time,” he said in an interview on NPR. “It would have been, I think, better if he had waited for another time to come.”
Antaramian said the violent atmosphere from people outside Kenosha had subsided and that peaceful protests and vigils for Jacob Blake had returned.
“We don’t support the damage and destruction that people are doing,” he said.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a public letter to Trump asking him to reconsider his visit.
“I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing,” Evers wrote. “I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”
Trump and Evers publicly disagreed on the number of National Guard troops to help quell the violence, despite the president’s repeated demand for law and order. Evers finally agreed on Wednesday to increase the deployment of National Guard troops to 500 after speaking with Trump.
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes also criticized the president’s visit on Sunday.
“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,” Barnes said in a CNN interview.
Trump said he will visit Kenosha anyway, hailing his pressure on Wisconsin Democrats for helping save the city.
“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,” he wrote. “I will see you on Tuesday!”
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2020
It is unclear if Trump will meet with Jacob Blake’s family during his visit. His daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, told Fox News Sunday the president wants to meet with members of the family, but the lawyer representing the Blake family said they had not heard from the White House.
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