Trump wades into racial tensions in Kenosha

President Donald Trump dove into the latest eruption in the nation’s reckoning over racial injustice on Tuesday, visiting the “destruction” left by rioters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and declaring it was enabled by Democratic leaders.

Soon after arriving in the city, a visit made over the objections of state and local leaders, Trump toured the charred remains of a block besieged by violence and fire. He spoke to the owners of a century-old furniture store that had been destroyed and blasted the Democrats in charge of Kenosha and Wisconsin.

“They just don’t want us to come in and then destruction is done,” said Trump, who has offered to send in federal enforcement. “These governors don’t want to call and the mayors don’t want to call. They have to ask.”

The city has been riven by protests since the Aug. 23 shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man hit seven times in the back by police as he was getting into a car while they were trying to arrest him. On the eve of his visit, Trump defended a teenage supporter accused of fatally shooting two men at a demonstration in Kenosha last week and accused Democrat Joe Biden of siding with “anarchists” and “rioters” in the unrest.