Wisconsin and Portland officials are butting heads with Donald Trump over his divisive rhetoric and predictable antics that have pushed the nation to its boiling point.
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Make no mistake about it, but the compassionate and non-racist Donald Trump the Republican Party attempted to trot out to the American public has now been exposed as a pathetic political publicity stunt. In short, it was a sham.
Not long after Donald Trump read an hour’s worth of prepared words from a teleprompter during last week’s Republican National Convention, the old divisive and race-baiting Trump was back to his old tricks over the weekend fanning the flames of hate and stirring the emotions of his followers into a frenzy. In fact, Trump told his MAGA flock that he intended to take his “Law and Order” act on the road with a special appearance in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, where racial strife and deadly protests following the police shooting of yet another Black man has the city on edge.
However, while Trump was busy packing his bags so he could throw a match onto the gasoline in Wisconsin, he got a surprise message from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers: Thanks, but no thanks!
“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,” the governor told Trump and the hundreds of MAGA supporters who were expected to flock to Kenosha to show their strength and support to their leader. “It is our job as elected officials to lead by example and to be a calming presence for the people we know are hurting, mourning, and trying to cope with trauma.
“Now is not the time for divisiveness,” he continued. “Now is not the time for elected officials to ignore armed militants and out-of-state instigators who want to contribute to our anguish.”
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Evers’ message followed a similar statement from Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who also told Trump that his presence would be neither helpful nor welcomed in Kenosha.
“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,” Barnes said during a Sunday segment on CNN. “So, 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.”
“He may think that war in our streets is good for his reelection chances, but that is not presidential leadership – or even basic human compassion.” – Joe Biden
In addition to the Wisconsin officials, Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland also engaged in a war of words with The White House over the weekend. According to the mayor, Donald Trump “created the hate” that caused a clash between MAGA supporters and peaceful protesters which led to a shooting that left one person dead.
The bad blood began when Donald Trump blamed Wheeler and other Democratic mayors (and not himself) for the current environment of protests and division.
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“Portland will never recover with a fool for a Mayor,” Trump said. “He tried mixing with the Agitators and Anarchists and they mocked him. He would like to blame me and the Federal Government for going in, but he hasn’t seen anything yet.”
However, the Portland mayor refused to be bullied and shot back with a biting retort that left ‘The Donald’ speechless.
“Do you seriously wonder, Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that America has seen this level of violence?” the Democratic mayor asked.
“It’s you who have created the hate and the division. It’s you who have not found a way to say the names of Black people killed by police officers even as people in law enforcement have. And it’s you who claimed that White supremacists are good people,” he added. “Your campaign of fear is as anti-democratic as anything you’ve done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country.
“For four years we’ve had to live with you and your racist attacks on Black people,” the mayor continued. “We learned early about your sexist attitudes toward women. We’ve had to endure clips of you mocking a disabled man. We’ve had to listen to your anti-democratic attacks on journalists. We’ve read your tweets slamming private citizens to the point of receiving death threats, and we’ve listened to your attacks on immigrants,” he said.
“We’ve listened to you label Mexicans ‘rapists.’ We’ve heard you say that John McCain wasn’t a hero because he was a prisoner of war. And now, you’re attacking Democratic mayors and the very institutions of Democracy that have served this nation well since its founding.
“President Trump, you bring no peace. You bring no respect to our Democracy. You, Mr. President, need to do your job as the leader of this nation and I, Mr. President, will do my job as the mayor of this city,” he said.
“And we will both be held accountable, as we should.”
Despite warnings from Portland and Wisconsin officials to stay out of the fray, Donald Trump remains hell-bent to insert himself into the mix and do what he does best: make matters worse.
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CNN:
President Donald Trump is still planning to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, this week after Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers wrote him a letter urging that he reconsider as the city continues to grapple with racial unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
“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,” White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement Sunday night.”President Trump looks forward to visiting on Tuesday and helping this great city heal and rebuild.”