Dana Bash Questions Ron Johnson on Trump Rhetoric Over Violence in Cities: Looks Like He’s ‘Inflaming Tensions’

CNN’s Dana Bash spoke with Senator Ron Johnson (R- WI) Sunday about the violence happening in cities like Kenosha and Portland. Last night one person was shot and killed during violent clashes in Portland.

Bash brought up President Donald Trump’s rhetoric to ask Johnson, “Are you comfortable with the president appearing to inflame tensions instead of what we normally see from presidents, which is trying to calm them down?”

Johnson said he personally has been trying to urge for calm, saying, “When you encourage disdain for the police, you encourage criminals. When you do little or nothing to stop rioting, you encourage anarchy.”

Bash again asked about the president’s rhetoric and said based on his tweets he appears to be “agitating and actively encouraging his supporters to go into Portland,.”

Johnson talked about Kenosha and the serious violence there, bringing up how Trump offered to help and saying that the “siege on our cities” needs to stop.

“What the president did was he offered to surge manpower and resources so the violence could end. The governor did not accept that that day, that night tragically two people lost their lives because citizens took matters into their own hands. I’m not for vigilantism. I’m not sure that’s what was happening. People felt, because the governor — local officials were looking for help. The governor did not accept the help, and so there was not the resolve to end the rioting, and so people took matters into their own hands, and that’s what ended up happening. People die. You have to get control of the situation.”

You can watch above, via CNN.

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