8/31/20:
Biden has turned up the volume on his microphone in the wake of recent violent protests. In Portland, for instance, a Trump fan was murdered in the street during a white-militia caravan apparently intended to intimidate the left-leaning community. The president tweeted Saturday, "Rest in Peace," but he failed to condemn the violence.
In a speech in Pittsburg Monday, Biden said, “This president long ago forfeited any moral leadership in this country. He can’t stop the violence — because for years he has fomented it.... He may believe mouthing the words ‘law and order’ makes him strong, but his failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia in this country shows you how weak he is.”
The latter was an indirect comment about Kenosha, WI, where the police called on right-wing militia last week to help it control rioters after a police officer shot a Black father of three seven times in the back. Last week, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse murdered two protestors (allegedly) and wounded a third, all with an assault rifle that he was legally too young to carry.
On Monday, the White House said there'd be no statement forthcoming about Rittenhouse But after Biden spoke, Trump changed his mind.
Echoing Rittenhouse's lawyers, Trump claimed that the boy shot in self-defense. Thankfully, Trump stopped short of comparing the kid to Americans at Lexington Green in 1776, as the lawyers did. Trump's instinct probably told him it would invite ridicule, even though the self-defense argument has become the Right's entire message about the troubled young man.
Trump plans to go to Kenosha this week, despite being disinvited by the Democratic governor and mayor. What he'll do there is likely to whip up his gun-toting base. Huffpo speculates that Trump wants to terrify suburban voters who think Trump's law and order message will actually minimize the violence. Personally, I doubt anyone could be fooled by that tactic.
As Biden said on Monday, “Does anyone believe there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is reelected?”
What do you think? Is Trump's "law and order" likely to bring less "law and order?" Will he encourage militia members to become violent against more people than protestors? What happens if Biden wins and, as rumor has it, Trump's militia members decide they want a civil war?
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