Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden finally condemned the ongoing violence in Kenosha, Wis. and cities across the country after his campaign initially “misjudged how important it was to the American people,” pollster and president of Maslansky & Partners, Lee Carter told “Fox & Friends Weekend” Sunday.
“I think it’s important that we take note of this shift on the violence, because it’s really really important to the American people, and I think that his campaign might have misjudged how important it was to the American people and what it meant,” Carter said.
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Biden’s forceful condemnation of the ongoing violence came amid a storm of headlines urging the Democratic candidate to address the issue.
In a video message shared on Wednesday, the former vice president disavowed the violence while still expressing his support for peaceful protest.
“You know, as I said after George Floyd’s murder, protesting brutality is a right and absolutely necessary,” Biden said. “But burning down communities is not protest- it’s needless violence, violence that endangers lives, violence that guts businesses and shutters businesses that serve the community. That’s wrong.”
Until now, Democrats shared the sentiment that “if you were concerned about violence, if you’re concerned about law and order, that also meant that you did not support Black Lives Matter,” Carter said.
“I think that they’re not mutually exclusive and that’s something he’s [Biden] realized and recognized,” she added.
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The issue has become an “absolutely essential” part of the presidential bid, Lee said.
“He has to address the concern of the American people, which is absolutely about individual personal safety.”
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
