32 2GM Friday August 28 2020 | the times
Wo r l d
President Trump’s most senior aide said
it was better for his re-election
prospects to have more disorder on
America’s streets, hours before the
president was due to make law and
order a centrepiece of his keynote con-
vention speech.
“The more chaos and anarchy and
vandalism and violence reigns, the bet-
ter it is for the very clear choice on who’s
best on public safety and law and
order,” Kellyanne Conway, who man-
aged his 2016 campaign, said.
“These are Democratically led cities
and most with Democratic governors.
... it’s not Donald Trump’s watch.”
Her words were seized on by Joe
Biden, the Democratic candidate, who
claimed that Mr Trump was “rooting
for more violence” rather than address-
ing the causes of the summer of unrest.
The police shooting of Jacob Blake, a
black man, in Wisconsin on Sunday
and subsequent fatal street protests
have rivalled the four-day Republican
convention for headlines.
Mr Trump, 74, was set to cast himself
as the saviour of the suburbs and de-
fender of police from budget cuts by
state Democratic leaders but the row
over Ms Conway’s comments threaten-
ed to undermine the finale of the event.
Mr Biden, 77, accused Mr Trump of
pouring petrol on a volatile situation for
his own benefit. “She said — and I’m
paraphrasing — that they’re looking
for more violence and more disruption
because it helps them politically,” he
said. “He views this as a political benefit
to him. He’s rooting for more violence,
not less, and is clear about that. And
what’s he doing? Just kept pouring
more gasoline on the fire.”
In accepting the Republican nomina-
tion, Mr Trump was also set to talk up
the “great job” he claims his administra-
tion has done in combating the corona-
virus, despite more than 176,000
deaths.
His speech from the White House, a
backdrop shunned by previous incum-
bents, was to be introduced by his
daughter Ivanka after a convention
that has featured the Trump family
prominently, with political speeches
from his four adult children, wife and
daughter-in-law.
Mr Trump is likely to appeal to con-
servatives by claiming that up to five
lifetime seats on the nine-member
Supreme Court could come up in the
next four-year presidency. He was
expected to emphasise his anti-abort-
ion credentials and his defence of the
right to bear arms.
The convention’s other key themes
have been the economy’s success, until
the virus struck in February, and an
assault on the record and motives of Mr
Biden, who held an average poll lead of
just over eight points last night.
In a blow to Republican unity, dozens
of staff members from the party’s recent
presidential candidates signed up to
support Mr Biden, including 34 who
worked for Mitt Romney, the Utah sen-
ator who ran against Barack Obama in
2012, and more than 100 former Senate
and campaign staff for John McCain,
who ran in 2008.
A letter signed by 21 alumni of the
George W Bush presidency also de-
clared support for Mr Biden because he
“is courageous and will tell the Amer-
ican people what we are facing, but will
also have a plan to guide us through this
difficult time”. They claimed that the
nation “has lost its moral compass”
under Mr Trump.
Kamala Harris, Mr Biden’s running
mate, taunted Mr Trump saying that he
“froze” and was “scared” in the face of
the pandemic. She added: “The Repub-
lican convention is designed for one
purpose: to soothe Donald Trump’s ego,
to make him feel good.”
According to his campaign, Mr
Trump was expected to say: “At no time
before have voters faced a clearer
choice between two parties, two vi-
sions, two philosophies, or two agen-
das. We have spent the last four years
reversing the damage Joe Biden inflict-
ed over the last 47 years.
“At the Democrat convention, you
barely heard a word about their agenda.
But that’s not because they don’t have
one. It’s because their agenda is the
most extreme set of proposals ever put
forward by a major party nominee.”
Mike Pence, the vice-president,
closed the third night of the convention
with a warning that “you won’t be safe
in Joe Biden’s America”, as he claimedthat the survival of the nation was at
stake in November’s election.
Mr Pence, 61, made only a brief men-
tion of the police shooting of Mr Blake
in Wisconsin and the protests that have
erupted, as he warned that the Demo-
crats would plunge the country into
chaos if elected.
Mr Trump has similarly emphasised
his commitment to defending rather
than defunding the “thin blue line”, a
demand of street protesters, and talked
little about racial justice despite a spate
of police killings of black Americans.
Speaking to an audience seated out-
side Fort McHenry, in stark contrast to
the empty studios of last week’s Demo-
cratic event, Mr Pence said the country
was “on track to have the first safe, ef-
fective, coronavirus vaccine by the end
of the year”.
The shootings in Kenosha, Wiscon-
sin, were mentioned by Mr Pence only
in general terms: “Let me be clear: the
violence must stop — whether in Min-
neapolis, Portland or Kenosha. Too
many heroes have died defending our
freedoms to see Americans strike each
other down. We will have law and order
on the streets of America.”
Leading article, page 31A bullied teenager who revered the
police and found purpose as a vigilante
will appear in court today charged with
murder after two people were killed
during a night of unrest in Wisconsin.
Amid the chaos that unfolded in the
small city of Kenosha shortly before
midnight on Tuesday a young man who
had earlier given his name to an inter-
viewer as “Kyle” was filmed several
times shooting a semi-automatic rifle
from close range at protesters who were
chasing him through the darkened
streets. “I just killed somebody,” the
gunman could be heard saying in one of
the mobile phone videos shared on
social media.
The victims, both white, were named
as Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha
and Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake,
15 miles west of the city, which lies on
the shore of Lake Michigan. A third
man, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was
wounded, police said.
On Wednesday Kyle Rittenhouse, 17,President Trump pressed his wife, Melania, into speaking at the RepublicanJ
oe Biden’s lead in key states is
less than Hillary Clinton’s
was four years ago, despite a
commanding national
margin over President
Trump (Henry Zeffman writes). In
the RealClearPolitics average of
polls, Mr Biden leads by 7.1 points —
narrower than the 9.3 point lead of
a month ago but still enough for
Democrats to be cautiously
confident. At this stage in 2016 the
same average of polls gave Mrs
Clinton a lead of six points.
However, in key swing states the
margin is slimmer. Pennsylvania,
Wisconsin and Michigan — which
stunned Democrats by voting
Republican for the first time since,
respectively, 1988, 1984 and 1988 —
are closer at this stage than in 2016.
Pennsylvania gives Mr Biden a
lead of 5.8 points; on this day in
2016 it gave Mrs Clinton a 9.2 point
lead. In Michigan, Mr Biden has a
7 point lead, compared with Mrs
Clinton’s of 9 points. In Wisconsin
Mr Biden has a 3.5 point lead; Mrs
Clinton’s was 11.5 points on this day.
Only Florida, which Mr Trump
claimed back for the Republicans
after Barack Obama won it twice,
presents a rosier picture, giving Mr
Biden a lead of 3.7 points compared
with Mrs Clinton’s 2.9 points.
Still, there are reasons to be
cautious about this analysis. While
campaigners, and pollsters, are
obsessing over this quartet of states,
in 2016 all of them bar Florida were
generally considered impregnably
Democratic and so there was far
less polling of them, giving an
outdated picture. Moreover, any
polls were conducted just after the
Democratic convention, which gaveMrs Clinton a bounce of about four
points nationally. There is no
evidence of a bounce for Mr Biden.
That may show that his convention
failed to win over new voters, or it
may reflect another difference
between this race and that of 2016:
its stability. Between the start of
June 2016 and the end of August
that year, Mrs Clinton’s margin in
the average of polls fluctuated
between a lead of 6 points and a
lead of 1.1 for Mr Trump. Mr Biden’s
lead since May has stuck between
tighter bounds: at its peak a lead of
9.8 points; at its trough a lead of
6.4 points. The polls also show far
fewer undecided voters than in 2016,
meaning a much smaller group for
the president to win round, or for
Mr Biden to lose.
Finally, many pollsters concluded
after Mr Trump’s victory that they
had surveyed too few voters without
degrees. Now most samples reflect
the educational diversity.
All this means that Mr Biden’s
ostensibly narrower leads in swing
states may prove to be more durable
than Mrs Clinton’s.Clinton was
further ahead
Pennsylvania+9.2+5.8+7+11.5+3.5+2.9+3.7+9MichiganWisconsinFloridaClinton’s poll lead Aug 27, 2016
Biden’s poll lead Aug 27, 2020Latest national polling
49.6%42.5%BidenTrumpSource: RCPSwing states won by Trump
Analysis
United States
David Charter
Henry Zeffman Washington
School dropout, 17, charged
was arrested in his home town of
Antioch, Illinois, a 30-minute drive
from Kenosha, on suspicion of first-
degree intentional homicide. He is due
to appear in court today for a hearing
on his extradition to Wisconsin, where
suspects aged 17 are treated as adults.
On Wednesday night a group of
demonstrators held a vigil near the spot
where Mr Huber was killed as he
attacked the gunman with his skate-
board after Mr Rosenbaum was shot.
“He was one of the most amazing
people,” Hannah Gittings, his girl-
friend, told the gathering. “He had so
much love in his heart for this city. He
took down an armed gunman with
nothing but his f***ing skateboard, and
he took that f***ing bullet,” she said.
A friend described Mr Huber as a
peaceful person who “didn’t go out
looking to beat people up. He’s more of
a defender. And he put his life on the
line for others.”
Mr Rosenbaum was engaged and had
a two-year-old daughter.
A curfew was in force in KenoshaBen Hoyle Los AngelesUnrest will give Trump boost at