Politics
Donald Trump Saved Kenosha. Period
Donald Trump saved Kenosha. Period.
Despite the ridiculous caption on CNN that said, “Fiery But Mostly Peaceful Protests After Police Shooting” while a reporter stood in front of a burning inferno, the City of Kenosha was filled with violence, fire and mayhem just a week ago. Now, the residents of Kenosha are living in relative peace.
Local Congressman Bryan Steil called the White House asking for federal assistance to restore law and order. Donald Trump answered his call. The president immediately ordered his Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to reach out to the current governor of Wisconsin. Initially, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers didn’t return Mr. Meadows’ call. They got back to Mr. Meadows, but amazingly it was to turn down the offer of help from the federal government.
Only after three nights of chaos and, tragically, two deaths, Mr. Evers accepted help from the White House. Thankfully, things have calmed down in Kenosha since then as the rioters realize local law enforcement now has the support they need to keep the community safe.
The fundamental role of government at any level is to keep people safe. Donald Trump and Bryan Steil passed the test. Joe Biden and Tony Evers failed.
Mr. Biden’s original statement about Kenosha jumped to the conclusion that the police were automatically at fault. He raised the issue of “excessive force” and said, “the officers must be held accountable” without ever requesting that people avoid violence seen in other cities across America.
Even though an independent investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice was underway, other Democrats made similar statements. Late last week, the Kenosha News — a local newspaper that historically endorses Democrats — attacked the current governor saying, “Evers’ statement on Sunday fueled the fire before any rioters got here. His insufficient response has put a Wisconsin city and its residents in danger. Now he needs to do everything the state can to help Kenosha and protect its citizens.” While it was reasonable to be disturbed by the original video, it is also appropriate to wait for the independent investigation results to pass judgment on the police.
Plus, the responses from many Democrats practically encouraged people to riot in the streets of Kenosha. After the three chaotic nights and two tragic deaths, the governor finally accepted President Trump’s offer of help. At nearly the same time, the Democratic attorney general put out his first statement condemning the violence. The Democratic nominee Joe Biden put out a tweet with a video that repeated the attacks on police but finally said something about the violence.
Now, I would like to think that Mr. Biden and the other Democrats had a change of heart, but it is more likely that focus groups and polling showed them losing favor with the voters. After a summer of silence (including no mentions at the Democratic National Convention), Mr. Biden was finally speaking out.
By Monday, he was trying to flip the script on Mr. Trump. At a speech to about eight people in Pittsburgh, Mr. Biden was trying to call out the president on the violence. Not surprisingly, some in the media were going along with the absolute farce. What a joke.
Mr. Biden had not denounced the violence in Seattle or Portland or Chicago or St. Louis or New York or Baltimore. Each of these cities is governed by liberals who did little or nothing to stop the violence. Each story of tolerating violence offers an example of Joe Biden’s America.
When riots broke out in my capital city of Madison earlier this summer, Mr. Biden was silent. At the time, “peaceful protesters” destroyed small businesses, tore down statues (interestingly of an abolitionist who died fighting the Confederacy), and even assaulted a state senator.
Meanwhile, the president tried to help Portland where he sent in federal agents to protect the U.S. Courthouse. The Democratic mayor of Portland and Democratic governor of Oregon told him to get out. Sadly, Portland continues to burn today with unrest. As shown in Wisconsin, peace can be restored if local and state officials set aside their political hatred for the commander-in-chief and ask for assistance to protect their communities.
Mr. Trump was right to visit Kenosha on Tuesday as his actions helped save the people of that great city. His announcement of $1 million to help support the local police department and $4 million to help rebuild many of the burned down and boarded up businesses was welcome news to the citizens.
Democrats, who publicly begged the president not to come to town, hailed a visit by Joe Biden two days later. He said he came to denounce the violence. Ironically, he arrived a week after things calmed down. Peace was restored because they accepted the president’s offer to provide help. The two visits perfectly define the difference between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump. One talks, the other acts.
• Scott Walker was the 45th governor of Wisconsin. You can contact him at [email protected] or follow him @ScottWalker.
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