The civil unrest continues in the United States, regaining steam following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin by police officers, bringing many Americans to protest and call for the end to police brutality and racism. Following Donald Trump’s attacks on officials in both Portland and Kenosha due to the protests, Portland mayor Ted Wheeler blasted Trump and his administration.
In a news conference, Wheeler blasted Trump and his administration for their response towards the protests calling for an end to racism in the country. Wheeler accused Trump of stoking hate and division among Americans, and his criticism of the president and the White House comes a day after protesters clashed with Trump supporters in Portland, leading to one person getting shot and killed.
“It’s you who have created the hate and the division. It’s you who have not found a way to say the names of Black people killed by police officers even as people in law enforcement have. And it’s you who claimed that White supremacists are good people. Your campaign of fear is as anti-democratic as anything you’ve done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country,” said Wheeler.
Wheeler continued to zero in on Trump, saying that Black and Brown people have had to live with racist rhetoric coming from the administration throughout the duration of his presidency. Wheeler mentioned Trump’s constant attacks on his critics on Twitter, as well as his previous comment towards the late GOP Senator John McCain, whom Trump was often at odds with.
In other news, the Commission on Presidential Debates revealed the moderators for all three presidential debates and the vice presidential debate. Trump’s first debate with former vice president Joe Biden that will take place on September 29, will be moderated by Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace. C-Span political editor and senior executive producer Steve Scully will be the moderator for the second debate scheduled on October 15. The third and final debate between Trump and Biden on October 22 will be moderated by NBC News White House Correspondent Kristen Welker.
Vice president Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris’ debate on October 7 will be moderated by USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page.