There’s a demand for Joe Biden to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, as the city grapples with a police shooting, according to the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.
“There’s been overwhelming requests that I do come,” Biden told reporters Wednesday, citing members of Congress and Wisconsin elected officials. “Because what we want to do is we’ve got to heal, we’ve got to put things together, bring people together. My purpose in going is to do just that, to be a positive influence.”
Biden’s campaign announced Wednesday he would travel to Kenosha for a community meeting on Thursday despite criticizing President Trump for making the trip Tuesday. Kenosha has experienced civil unrest since Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot in the back seven times as a white police officer tried to arrest him. Initial reports were that Blake had a knife.
Biden, the two-term vice president, agreed with running mate Kamala Harris that the officer involved should be afforded due process, but that the California senator believed there was enough evidence for him to be charged.
“I think we should let the judicial system work its way,” Biden said during Wednesday’s stop in Wilmington, Delaware, adding that “I do think there’s a minimum need to be charged.”
His Kenosha plans were quickly followed by an announcement that he and former second lady Jill Biden would mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, next week.
Biden explained he would prefer to be on the campaign trail, but “a president has the responsibility to set the example.”
“We’ve worked out a protocol where, how I get on a plane, what kind of plane I get on, how it’s sanitized, how I engage people,” he said.
Biden took questions after a press conference called to rip Trump over his perceived lack of leadership regarding school reopenings. He urged the president to “get off Twitter” and address the “national emergency” by securing, for starters, additional funding from congressional leaders so schools can buy personal protective equipment and sanitation supplies.
“Let me be clear: If President Trump and his administration had done their jobs early on in this crisis, American schools would be open, and they’d be open safely,” he said.
