Aug 27, 2020 - Politics & Policy
Biden: Trump is "rooting for more violence"
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Joe Biden told MSNBC on Thursday that President Trump is "rooting for more violence, not less" in cities facing unrest due to protests against police brutality.
The backdrop: The Democratic nominee's comments came after four consecutive nights of turmoil in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was left paralyzed.
- On Wednesday, a 17-year-old, who allegedly was acting as a member of a vigilante group, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in Tuesday night's shooting deaths of two people during the protests in Kenosha.
- The unrest there follows months of protests nationwide, sparked by the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville.
What he's saying: "What’s he doing — pouring more gasoline on the fire — I think he views it as a political benefit," Biden said of Trump.
- Biden pointed to comments made by White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who told Fox News that "the more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who's best on public safety and law and order."
- Biden also said he would consider visiting Kenosha: "What I don’t want to do is become part of the problem. ... If I were president, I would be going. If I went, I would be trying to pull together the Black community as well as the white community."
Worth noting: He also shot down House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's suggestion that he should refuse to debate Trump.
- "As long as the commission continues down the straight and narrow. I am going to debate him. ... I am going to be a fact-checker on the floor."
