The Instructive and Contrasting Kenosha Visits - Rob Horowitz

The Instructive and Contrasting Kenosha Visits - Rob Horowitz

Back to back visits by the two major presidential candidates to Kenosha, Wisconsin last week in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake Jr., an African American, 7 times in the back by a white police officer and the at least partially violent demonstrations that broke out as a result, provided a telling contrast.

President Trump focused nearly exclusively on law and order, touring the property damage caused by the demonstrations and in his initial remarks to a group of law enforcement professionals blamed “domestic terrorism” and cowardly liberal politicians for it without even mentioning Jacob Blake Jr.  On the other hand, Joe Biden met privately with the Blake family and focused on the need for healing as he addressed a group more broadly representative of the community that included clergy, politicians, activists and business people as well as police officers, as reported by  ABC News and The New York Times.

President Trump deflected any question about systemic racism or the need for police reform back to his law and order message.   For example, when asked, “Do you believe that there is a need for structural change?  What is your message to the people who are protesting peacefully?” Trump responded this way: “Well, I think people are calling for structural change, and then you could take the people of Kenosha that aren’t here and that you won’t see and that aren’t protesting, but they want change also. They want to see law and order. That’s the change they want. They want law and order. They want the police to be police. They want the police to do what they do better than anybody else in the world, and that’s what they want too.”

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Similarly, the president ducked a question about the Jacob Blake Jr shooting, by saying it was complicated and under investigation.  The night before, of course, he had no hesitation in defending one of his supporters who was charged with homicide after killing 2 protesters and injuring another with an AK-15 during a counter-demonstration on the streets of Kenosha.

In stark contrast, Joe Biden and his wife Jill met privately with the Blake family for more than an hour, speaking by phone during that time to Jacob Jr., who paralyzed from the shooting was still hospitalized. The attorney for the family, Ben Crump released a statement praising the Bidens. “The family was grateful for the meeting and was very impressed that the Bidens were so engaged and willing to really listen," said Crump. Referring to the former vice-president’s conversation with Jacob, Crump continued, “Jacob Jr. shared the pain he is enduring, and the vice president commiserated. It was very obvious that Vice President Biden cared, as he extended to Jacob Jr. a sense of humanity, treating him as a person worthy of consideration and prayer."

In his remarks, Biden denounced the violence in no uncertain terms, saying “If you loot or you burn, you should be held accountable. It just cannot be tolerated, across the board.” But unlike the president, he did not stop there.  He expressed his empathy for African-Americans and pledged to address systemic racism as president.  Getting to the heart of the matter, Biden said, I can’t understand what it’s like to walk out the door or send my son out the door or my daughter and worry about just because they’re Black they may not come back.”

The Kenosha visits provided a real-time window into the different approaches of Biden and Trump to the interrelated challenges of police reform, racism, peaceful protests destructive incidents of property destruction and violence, and our nation’s divisions.  Just as importantly, the two visits offered a glimpse into two contrasting ideas of presidential leadership. I am confident that on both scores, the majority of Americans prefer Joe Biden’s inclusive effort to heal and to recognize the complexity of the problem to Donald Trump’s one-sided confrontational approach, promoting division and failing to even try to be president of all the people.

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits, businesses, and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.