Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Trump Visits Kenosha After Defending Right-Wing Vigilante Murderer, Pledges More Police Funding

On Tuesday, President Trump visited Kenosha, Wisconsin, one day after defending the right-wing vigilante who murdered two protesters. The trip serves to animate his right-wing base ahead of elections and squarely position himself as the “law and order” candidate.

Otto Fors

September 2, 2020
Facebook Twitter Share
AP Photo/Evan Vucci

On Tuesday afternoon, President Trump visited Kenosha, Wisconsin, the site of recent uprisings against the violent police shooting of Jacob Blake. During the visit, Trump decried the protests as “domestic terror” while promising more funding for the police. The day before, he had defended the 17-year-old far-right gunman who killed two protesters in the city. His rhetoric and behavior are an attempt to animate his racist base and position himself as the “law and order” candidate amid growing tension across the United States. The actions are dangerous and all but guarantee further escalations. Any escalation must be fought by a movement of oppressed groups and the working class. 

On August 23, police officers shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, seven times in the back as he was getting into his car. Since then, Kenosha has been the epicenter of demonstrations, with police and right-wing groups both repressing antiracist protesters. Two nights after police shot Blake, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old far-Right vigilante, killed two protesters with a semi-automatic rifle. Rittenhouse, a fan of Trump and Blue Lives Matter, had travelled from 40 minutes away in neighboring Illinois to patrol the streets of Kenosha and protect property. Video footage from the evening shows the police interacting with armed right-wing forces, including Rittenhouse, giving them water and thanking them for being there. 

After killing two protesters, Rittenhouse walked past police with his hands up. Despite demonstrators yelling that he had just shot someone, he was not apprehended — he returned home that night and was only arrested on the following day. The police’s treatment of Rittenhouse is in stark contrast to their horrific treatment of Jacob Blake, whom they shot over and over as he opened his car. It is also jarring when compared to the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Atatiana Jefferson, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, and countless other victims of police brutality. However, the cops’ actions are consistent with their role as the armed, repressive wing of the state, whose very purpose is to protect capital and private property. Cops also have a long, intimate history with right-wing militia movements, with whom they often work hand-and-glove. 

At a press briefing on Monday, Trump was asked whether he would condemn Rittenhouse, but declined to do so. He instead implied, contradicting the video evidence, that Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense, responding, “He was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like. I guess he was in very big trouble, he probably would have been killed.” Trump likewise declined to condemn the cop who shot Jacob Blake. In an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham that evening, he said that police officers “choke” when they are “under siege,” and likened the shooting to missing “a three-foot putt” at a golf tournament. 

Over the weekend, Trump decided to visit Kenosha on Tuesday as part of a “unifying” visit. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, who are both Democrats, asked Donald Trump not to come, writing in a letter that a visit would “hinder our healing.” Trump waved away their concerns, and instead argued that a visit to Kenosha could “increase enthusiasm and … love and respect for our country.” He did not have plans to visit Jacob Blake’s family. Blake’s father, Jacob Blake Sr., said, “This is not politics. This is about the life of my son,” and had no interest in speaking to the president. 

In Kenosha, Trump surveyed property-damaged areas with Attorney General Barr while a mix of Trump supporters and protesters lined the streets. After his tour around the affected neighborhoods, he attended a roundtable event with business owners and police officers at which he condemned the protesters and said, “Kenosha has been ravaged by anti-police and anti-American riots … These are not acts of peaceful protests, but domestic terror.” Trump then promised $1 million for the Kenosha police department, $4 million to help rebuild businesses, and $42 million for cops and prosecutors across Wisconsin. Notably, Trump did not mention Jacob Blake a single time. He believed that his visit was helpful “because I’m about law and order.” 

Biden correctly claimed that Trump was “stoking violence” through his comments and his visit to the city; however, Biden is trying to out-do Trump in pro-police, “law and order” rhetoric. In response to the Kenosha uprising, Biden said, “Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting, it’s lawlessness, plain and simple, and those who do it should be prosecuted … Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters?” He plans to air an ad condemning the protest. Likewise, Democratic governors and mayors have used the same repressive tactics that Trump advocates. The mayor of Kenosha even called in several hundred National Guard members in response to the protests. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are friends of protesters or movements against racism and police brutality. 

Trump’s visit to Kenosha and defense of both Rittenhouse and the Kenosha police serve several purposes. Wisconsin is a key swing state for the November presidential elections — in 2016, Trump carried the state by a margin of less than one percent against Hillary Clinton. The visit can be seen as an attempt to gain a foothold in the state. However, the visit also served to strengthen Trump’s position as the “law and order” candidate more broadly. Against the backdrop of protests in Kenosha, as well as in Portland, Trump hopes to garner support from undecided voters who are fearful of what is unfolding in cities across the United States. 

Finally, his visit and statements serve to animate his right-wing base and encourage vigilantism. As with his previous incendiary comments — such as “When the looting starts, the shooting starts” — he is trying to whip up his racist and far-right base amid a tightening race with Joe Biden. By defending Rittenhouse, refusing to mention Jacob Blake, and visiting Kenosha to pledge support for police and decry property damage, Trump is signalling his allegiances to the racist, repressive arm of the state and right-wing vigilantes. This polarizing campaign is dangerous, and will likely lead to further violence and repression. The working class and oppressed groups will need to unite in a powerful movement, and must resist co-optation by the Democratic party.

Facebook Twitter Share

Otto Fors

Otto is a college professor in the New York area.

United States

What “The Daily” Gets Right and Wrong about Oregon’s Move to Recriminalize Drugs

A doctor at an overdose-prevention center responds to The Daily, a podcast produced by the New York Times, on the recriminalization of drugs in Oregon. What are the true causes of the addiction crisis, and how can we solve it?

Mike Pappas

March 22, 2024
Former president Donald Trump standing at a podium in front of American flags.

To Stop Trump, We Need Much More Democracy, Not Less

Democrats have been trying to kick Trump off the ballot as an "insurrectionist." Liberals say we have to restrict democracy in order to save it. As socialists, we think they have it backwards: to beat the Far Right, we need a mass movement fighting for radical democracy.

Nathaniel Flakin

March 18, 2024

New Jersey Democrats Attack the Public’s Right to Government Records

The New Jersey state assembly, led by the Democratic Party, just tried to fast-track a bill that would have gutted the Open Public Records Act. This is a reminder that their party is an obstacle, not an ally, in the fight to preserve democracy.

Samuel Karlin

March 15, 2024
President Biden giving his State of the Union speech at a podium in March, 2024.

Biden’s State of the Union: Hyper-Nationalism and Eroding Legitimacy

President Biden’s hyper-nationalistic State of the Union speech focused on selling himself as a defender of democracy at home and abroad. But it’s not enough to solve his — and the whole U.S. regime’s — crisis of legitimacy.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

March 14, 2024

MOST RECENT

A square in Argentina is full of protesters holding red banners

48 Years After the Military Coup, Tens of Thousands in Argentina Take to the Streets Against Denialism and the Far Right

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Argentina on March 24 to demand justice for the victims of the state and the military dictatorship of 1976. This year, the annual march had renewed significance, defying the far-right government’s denialism and attacks against the working class and poor.

Madeleine Freeman

March 25, 2024

The Convulsive Interregnum of the International Situation

The capitalist world is in a "permacrisis" — a prolonged period of instability which may lead to catastrophic events. The ongoing struggles for hegemony could lead to open military conflicts.

Claudia Cinatti

March 22, 2024

Berlin’s Mayor Loves Antisemites

Kai Wegner denounces the “antisemitism” of left-wing Jews — while he embraces the most high-profile antisemitic conspiracy theorist in the world.

Nathaniel Flakin

March 22, 2024

Lord Balfour Was an Imperialist Warmonger 

We should give our full solidarity to the Palestine Action comrade who defaced a portrait of Arthur Balfour at Cambridge University. But the problem for everyone who opposes the genocide against Gaza is how to massify and politically equip the movement.

Daniel Nath

March 21, 2024