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Joe Biden headed to Kenosha to offer up words of healing during a time when the sociopolitical climate has seemed to reach a fever pitch.
According to published reports, Joe Biden was on the ground of the Wisconsin town to attend a community town hall meeting to discuss the ongoing violence against peaceful protestors nationwide and the shooting of Jacob Blake which rocked the community.
As previously reported, Biden did not speak with Blake in person, reports state that the former Vice-President did speak to Blake over the phone in the presence of the Blake family, who met the candidate at the airport. Biden states that while the phone call was confidential, Blake was in positive spirits before assuring the Democratic nominee that he plans on fighting the good fight despite being a victim of police brutality and violence.
“I had the opportunity to talk with the Blake family, who had an overwhelming sense of resilience and optimism,” Biden said. “Mr. Blake talked about how ‘nothing was going to defeat him’, whether he walked again or not. He was determined and not going to give up.”
Confirming the meeting, the family’s lawyer Ben Crump said it was “engaging” and that the family “was very impressed that the Bidens were so engaged and willing to really listen”.
While many were happy about Joe Biden’s support, according to BBC some Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha were disappointed that Biden had not come sooner allowing Donald Trump to get to the city first, pushing a campaign message of “law and order.”
Wisconsin is an important state in the upcoming presidential election, in 2016 Trump narrowly won it, and for decades the state has backed the eventual winner of the presidency whether Republican or Democrat. Local Democrats were already frustrated that after the party’s national convention in neighboring Milwaukee was canceled due to the pandemic only to have no socially distant events planned there as a replacement.
At the community meeting in Kenosha, Joe Biden attacked Trump’s leadership and argued that the US was at an “inflection point” in its history, before adding that the current administration is pushing racial division. Wisconsin’s Governor, Tony Evers, said he would “prefer that no-one be in the city, “be it Trump or candidate Biden” to give the community a chance to come together during the adverse time of the pandemic and political climate.
