John Antaramian, Kenosha, Wisconsin’s, Democratic mayor, revealed on Sunday he would have preferred if President Donald Trump did not visit the city at the moment.
Antaramian told NPR’s “Weekend Edition” he is open to him visiting, just not at this time.
He was asked how he is preparing for the president’s visit and will the attention be good or bad for the city.
“Realistically, from our perspective, our preference would have been for him not to be coming at this point in time,” Antaramian said.
He added, “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 pivoted to discussing the protests and stressed “peaceful” demonstrations are not a “problem.”
Listen to the interview below:
According to the Kenosha mayor, most of the violence is coming from outside of the city.
“We don’t support the damage and destruction that people are doing. As I said, the majority of that, from what we’ve seen, has come from the outside,” Antaramian said.
The shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by white police officers, ignited several days of protests in Kenosha.
On the third day, a gunman opened fire killing two and injuring a third.
A White House official told reporters on Saturday Trump will visit the city on Tuesday, as IJR previously reported.
He will meet with law enforcement officials and assess damage in Kenosha.
On Saturday, About 1,000 protesters joined one another in marching a mile in Kenosha and chanted “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace,” as IJR previously reported.
Antaramian is not the only one to suggest Trump’s visit may not be the best idea.
Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) told CNN on Sunday the only purpose of Trump’s trip to Kenosha “is to agitate things and to make things worse.”