Donald Trump is surprising no one with this one
Usurper, rapist, murderer and traitor Donald Trump claims, “I helped save Kenosha.” The delusion comes from the fact that he sent troops to Kenosha, Wisconsin during the protest there to intimidate and shoot with rubber bullets anyone who dared to complain about the murder of Jacob Blake.
“As you know,” Trump self-indulgently informed Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Friday, “I went there and I sent in a lot of people … because Democrats that run places don’t do too well. And you had a governor, somebody, [i.e. Trump had forgotten the name of Wisconsin governor Tony Evers] he didn’t want to call in anybody. He just wanted to let it burn.”
Trump told Ingraham that he also loved the recent Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. “I think that it was a great decision,” Trump said, “I was very happy to see it. A lot of people were happy to see it — most people.” Actually, the universal conclusion of post-verdict polls is that most Americans were not happy to see it. But then, as you will recall, Trump lying isn’t exactly breaking news.
In the interview with Ingraham, Trump also referred to Rittenhouse as a “poster boy” for “innocence based on self-defense.” Trump omitted the detail about Rittenhouse crossing state lines with an AR-15 style rifle and provoking angry protestors with a menacing presence, but that just goes without saying, I suppose.
“I think he would have been dead if he waited a quarter of a second when that gun was pointed at his head,” Trump said. This was in reference to Gaige Grosskreutz, a man who pointed a gun at Rittenhouse and survived being shot by the then 17 year old. Naturally the scenario would have been vastly improved had Rittenhouse not gone to Kenosha with a gun in the first place.
Trump also called the original charges against Rittenhouse a case of “prosecutorial misconduct,” and he said that both judge and jury experienced “external pressure” to find Rittenhouse guilty. Of course, that was a charge that was going to be levelled no matter the outcome. And whatever external pressure the jury may or may not have experienced came from both sides.
Republican deplorables Madison Cawthorn, Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar all offered Rittenhouse a congressional internship following his verdict. I guess for them murdering two people is a new job requirement. Crossing state lines to do it must have been particularly attractive to Matt Gaetz.
Rittenhouse is rapidly becoming a hero for Republicans. While Democrats are trying to rebuild America’s infrastructure, make healthcare cheaper for all Americans, fight global warming and curtail the spread of a deadly pandemic, Republicans are making a hero out of a stupid thug who provoked protestors and murdered two of them when they didn’t like it. I guess in the minds of Republicans carrying a gun is some kind of moral antiseptic, allowing the carrier to literally get away with murder. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.