Kenosha Residents and Business Owners Thank Trump, But Media Spins a Misleading Story About the Visit

AP Photo/Evan Vucci
AP featured image
People line up to watch as the motorcade with President Donald Trump passes by Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump went to Kenosha, Wisconsin to lend support to law enforcement and the businesses who had suffered so much because of the rioting there.

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Some Democrats of course attacked him, because when do they not? But it was the right thing to do because as president he needs to be showing that support.

People appreciated it as the police and the crowds who came out indicated. Several hundred people came out to welcome him, saying “Thank you for coming and thank you for the help.”

Some BLM people were also in attendance, but the police and the National Guard kept everything peaceful.

The business owners particularly appreciated it.

Scott Carpenter who runs B&L Office Furniture and is apolitical, was grateful.

“It let us know as small-business leaders that we matter,” he told the local CBS affiliate. “Because he is a businessman and he’s had businesses and to see your business in ruins, I believe his heart was in it for the right reason. You know he felt us, he felt our pain.”

John Rode III, third-generation former owner of the 109-year-old Rode’s Camera Shop, was emotional as he met the president near the ruins of the store. Rode also owned the building that the shop was in that went up in flames. “We’re so thankful that we got the federal troops in to help because once they got here, things did calm down quite a bit,” Rode said. “I just appreciate President Trump coming today; everybody here does,”

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While the governor called in the National Guard to help out in a limited way after the first start of the rioting, it wasn’t enough. After meeting with President Trump and getting pleas from local officials, he was convinced to change his mind and brought more Guard come in. That helped stop it. That’s why some credited Trump with pushing for more Guard.

But media spread a story about the visit that was misleading.

A business owner who didn’t want to meet with Trump was the present owner of the Rode’s Camera Shop. That’s cool, because that’s his right.

But media then claimed that because Trump “couldn’t get” the “owner” of Rode’s they got the “former owner,” suggesting that the person didn’t currently have a stake in the destruction and/or that Trump was trying to deceive people.

The NY Times spread it too, with this headline: “The owner of a damaged Kenosha business rejected Trump’s photo op. So the White House used the ex-owner.”

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Trump did introduce John Rode as the “owner” of Rode’s camera store at a roundtable. But John Rode not only was the former owner, third generation, of a store that bore his name, he also owned the building. It’s likely Trump logically thought he was the “owner” of the store with his name as indeed he was the owner of the physical location. But media spread this, suggesting that Trump was somehow bringing in a former owner to deceive people which is silly since Rode owned the building, he had a very real stake in the destruction, more so than the person who is only paying rent on the space.

Just so dumb. You take what was basically an event trying to be supportive and media are the ones who have to push division. Next-level weird to try to twist this into something deceptive.

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