Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden on Thursday said President Trump has legitimized the dark side of human nature at an event in Wisconsin aimed at fostering a civil dialogue and healing the community after recent rioting and unrest.
Mr. Biden made the rare trip outside of Delaware against the wishes of Wisconsin’s Democratic governor.
“The words of a president matter,” Mr. Biden said at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha. “Hate only hides and when someone in authority breathes oxygen under that rock, it legitimizes those folks to come on out.”
Mr. Biden again slammed Mr. Trump for the president’s response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, which the former vice president frequently credits for spurring him to enter the presidential race.
“Not all his fault, but it legitimizes the dark side of human nature,” he said.
Mr. Biden said he spoke by phone earlier in the day with Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot by Kenosha police on Aug. 23.
The shooting, which left Mr. Blake partially paralyzed, sparked deadly protesting and rioting in recent days.
“He talked about how nothing was going to defeat him,” Mr. Biden said.
He also delved into some policy, saying nobody earning less than $400,000 per year would see their taxes increase under his plan.
Mr. Biden said he didn’t want to go into more detail “because they’ll shoot me.”
It was unclear whether he was referring to his staff, the audience, or someone else.
Mr. Biden also met with members of Mr. Blake’s family earlier in the day.
His visit came two days after Mr. Trump traveled to Kenosha to assess the damage.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, told reporters Thursday that he didn’t want either Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump to visit the state during such a sensitive time and amid the ongoing pandemic.
Mr. Evers very publicly urged Mr. Trump not to come earlier this week.
He suggested Thursday that he spoke to Mr. Biden after the candidate was already basically en route.
“I told him what my position was. It is what it is,” the governor said. “Whether I called him before he got on the plane or after the plane was irrelevant.”
At the time of the shooting, there had been a warrant out for Mr. Blake’s arrest after he was charged with sexual assault in July.
Officers had responded to a domestic disturbance report and tried to deploy a taser to subdue Mr. Blake after trying to arrest him before the shooting.
Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Mr. Blake after he walked around his vehicle, opened the driver’s side door and leaned forward, authorities said.
The man who shot the widely circulated video of the shooting said he heard officers shout “Drop the knife!” before the gunfire but that he didn’t see a knife in Mr. Blake’s hands.
Law enforcement later recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of the car and didn’t find any other weapons. Mr. Blake admitted to investigators that he had a knife in his possession.
