Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign announced that he will visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, following days of unrest that erupted after the shooting of Jacob Blake.
The campaign said in a statement that Biden and his wife Jill Biden would visit the city on Thursday.
The statement continued, “Vice President Biden will hold a community meeting in Kenosha to bring together Americans to heal and address the challenges we face.”
The decision to visit comes days after Politico reported that Biden’s campaign was not planning a visit to Kenosha. The campaign reportedly wanted to distance the former vice president from the unrest in the city as he accused President Donald Trump of inciting violence around the country.
In a speech on Monday, Biden said, “[Trump] doesn’t want to shed light, he wants to generate heat, and he’s stoking violence in our cities. He can’t stop the violence because for years he’s fomented it.”
During an event on Wednesday, Biden was asked about his upcoming visit by a reporter who noted that local officials in Wisconsin have stated their desire that neither presidential candidate visit Kenosha at this time.
When asked why he believes now is an appropriate time for the visit, Biden responded, “There’s been overwhelming requests that I do come. Because we want to do is, we’ve got to heal.”
He continued, “We’ve got to put things together. Bring people together. And so my purpose in going will be to do just that, to be a positive influence on what’s going on.”
Watch Biden’s response below:
"What we want to do is — we've got to heal. We've got to put things together. Bring people together," Joe Biden says when asked what he hopes to accomplish when visiting Kenosha, Wisconsin this week. https://t.co/WGhmObPiAU pic.twitter.com/3DgZfHgH8g
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 2, 2020
Biden added that he will meet with community leaders, business owners, and law enforcement officials in Kenosha and “talk about what need be done.”
On Tuesday, Trump traveled to Kenosha to survey the damage that resulted from the violent demonstrations in the city and voice his support for law enforcement.
During his visit, Trump met with local business leaders and said, “To stop the political violence, we must also confront the radical ideology. … We have to condemn the dangerous anti-police rhetoric.”
Trump’s campaign blasted Biden for traveling to Kenosha after calling off plans to travel to the state earlier this month to officially accept his party’s nomination for president.
The campaign’s Director of Communications Tim Murtaugh asked, “How is it that Joe Biden can fly to Wisconsin tomorrow, but he was unable to fly to Wisconsin two weeks ago to accept the nomination?”
