Trump heads to politically crucial Wisconsin amid violence, racial unrest

Despite entreaties to stay away, President Donald Trump heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday to highlight his “law and order” campaign theme in a city upended by protests after the shooting of a Black man by a white police officer.

The Republican president, who is running for re-election against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, has seen his polling gap with the former vice president narrow amid ongoing protests over racial injustice and resulting violence.

Last week’s Republican National Convention portrayed Biden as a leader whose policies would create further chaos in the streets. Biden and fellow Democrats have made clear that the violence is happening under Trump’s watch and accuse him of fomenting it with divisive rhetoric.

Trump’s trip to Wisconsin, a political battleground state that he won narrowly in 2016, gives him a chance to emphasize his police-friendly pitch in a state he hopes to keep in his column in the Nov. 3 election.

Trump has lauded the National Guard for helping to quell violence in Kenosha and has offered to send federal assistance to other cities such as Portland, Oregon, which has experienced three months of protests. The president has not made a recent visit to Oregon, a state that traditionally supports Democrats in presidential elections.

Biden, who is ahead in national polls but has seen that advantage slip, leads Trump in Wisconsin, according to an average of polls by RealClearPolitics.

On Monday he called for rioters and looters to be prosecuted while slamming Trump for a lack of moral leadership.