Friday, September 4, 2020

Biden's Kenosha Visit Contrasts With Trump's




Joe Biden's visit to Kenosha, WI, yesterday was a study in contrasts with that of Cadet Bone Spurs earlier in the week.  The Washington Post notes the difference in tone and substance:
During an emotional meeting held in a church not far from looted downtown buildings, Biden made some of his most direct comments yet on the subject of race, growing introspective at times and speaking barely above a whisper. He said the shock over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, and the shooting that paralyzed Jacob Blake in Kenosha on Aug. 23, has provided the first window in generations for the nation to address centuries-old problems.

“We’re finally now getting to the point where we’re going to address the original sin in this country . . . slavery, and all the vestiges of it,” Biden said. “I can’t guarantee you everything gets solved in four years. But I can guarantee you one thing, it will be a whole heck of a lot better, we’ll move a lot further down the road.”

In tone and dialogue, Biden’s trip differed dramatically from that of President Trump two days earlier. The former vice president met with Blake’s family and spoke with Blake by phone for 15 minutes before meeting with a disparate group of community leaders. Trump had toured buildings burned after protests over the shooting, and his audience was heavy with members of law enforcement. [snip]

“I promise you, win or lose, I’m going to go down fighting, I’m going to go down fighting for racial equality, equity across the board,” Biden said. “The country’s ready — and if they’re not, it doesn’t matter, because there are certain things I ain’t going to change. There are certain things worth losing over. And this is something worth losing over if you have to. But we’re not going to lose.”

Biden met for more than an hour with Blake’s parents, siblings and legal team and spoke on the phone with Blake, who was shot seven times and had just been released from the ICU. [snip]
While Trump, in his visit, spoke out against lawlessness, he did not meet with Blake’s family, and also has refused to denounce Kyle Rittenhouse, a White teenager accused of shooting and killing two people during the protests there.
Meanwhile, the arsonist- in- chief was in Pennsylvania spreading bullshit and stoking the fires:
... At an airport rally in Latrobe, the president praised his coronavirus response, and mocked Biden’s routine wearing of a mask, as federal health officials and even Trump, more recently, have advised. He also belittled Biden’s support of peaceful protests over police killings. “Biden’s plan is to appease the domestic terrorists, and my plan is to arrest them and prosecute them,” Trump said, calling Biden “a puppet of the socialist, Marxist and Trump-hating extremists.”
Is the public buying it so far?  Nah!

(click to enlarge)



(Photo: Joe Biden meets with community leaders at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha, WI / REUTERS)