After over 90 days of violent rioting in Portland, Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler condemned a recent shooting death but shifted his focus to the Pro-Trump rally in his city and President Donald Trump.
Wheeler held a press conference Sunday, following the shooting death of a reported member of the ‘Patriot Prayer’ group in Portland after rioters in the downtown area besieged a pro-Trump car caravan on Saturday.
Wheeler’s statement shifted all the blame away from the nightly BLM/Antifa rioters and the violence he has continued to allow in his city, and instead, focused on the pro-Trump rally and smearing the president.
“Yesterday's events began with hundreds of cars filled with supporters of the president rallying in Clackamas County and then driving through downtown Portland. They were supported and energized by the president himself,” Wheeler said.
“President Trump, for four years, we've had to live with you and your racist attacks on black people, we learned early about your sexist attitudes towards women. We've had to endure clips of you mocking a disabled man. We've had to listen to your anti-democratic attacks on journalists. We've read your tweets slamming private citizens to the point of receiving death threats. And we've listened to your attacks on immigrants.
We've listened to you label Mexicans - rapists. We've heard you say that John McCain wasn't a hero because he was a prisoner of war. And now you're attacking Democratic mayors and the very institutions of democracy that have served this nation well since its founding.
Do you seriously wonder, Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that America has seen this level of violence? It's you who have created the hate and the division.”
President Trump responded on Twitter.
Ted Wheeler, the wacky Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat Mayor of Portland, who has watched great death and destruction of his City during his tenure, thinks this lawless situation should go on forever. Wrong! Portland will never recover with a fool for a Mayor....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2020