Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) urged President Trump on Sunday to “reconsider” his plans to visit Kenosha, Wis., which has been rocked by unrest for the past several nights following the shooting of Jacob Blake by police.
In a letter to the White House shared by Evers’s office Sunday afternoon, the governor warned that Trump’s presence could “hinder” the state’s attempts to heal after a video of Kenosha police shooting Blake seven times in the back sparked a week of protests that in some cases descended into violence.
“I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state. I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together,” he wrote.
“I am likewise concerned that an in-person visit from you will require a massive re-direction of these resources to support your visit at a time when it is critical that we continue to remain focused on keeping the people of Kenosha safe and supporting the community’s response,” Evers continued.
A White House spokesperson told reporters on Saturday that the president planned to visit Kenosha on Tuesday.
The president has attempted to tie Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and other Democrats to the protests, using the unrest to paint a dark picture of what he says the U.S. would look like under a Biden presidency. As an example, he has pointed to Kenosha, where at least half a dozen businesses have burned to the ground in recent days, according to local media reports. Three people were shot and two were killed last week, allegedly by a 17-year-old who traveled to the city from Illinois.
Kenosha’s mayor on Sunday also urged the president not to come.
“Realistically, from our perspective, our preference would have been for him not to be coming at this point in time,” Mayor John Antaramian (D) said on NPR’s “Weekend Edition.”
“All presidents are always welcome and campaign issues are always going on. But it would have been, I think, better had he waited to have for another time to come,” Antaramian added.