The request by the governors of Wisconsin and Minnesota to summon the National Guard was good news for President Donald Trump, who immediately welcomed the dispatch of the armed forces to help maintain security in both states.
Violence continued for the fourth night in a row in Kenosha, Wisconsin, due to the shooting of white police officers on Jacob Blake, the black man, and the violence spread to the neighboring state of Minnesota, which witnessed the killing of George Floyd 3 months ago, and curfews were imposed in a number of areas.
The demonstrations and acts of violence renewed the controversy over the nature of the police role and its funding, developments that have cast a shadow over the political scene and the US presidential race.
Trump tweeted, "We will not stand against looting, setting fires, violence and chaos on American streets."
The governors of Wisconsin and Minnesota, Democrat Tom Waltz, and Democrat Toy Evers called for support from federal authorities to restore security.
The two states are swing states in the 2020 elections, and both parties are doubling their efforts to secure their victory.
Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 with 47.2% of the vote compared to 46.5% for Hillary Clinton, and Trump won by a difference of only 23,000 votes, and for the state 10 votes in the electoral college.
As for Minnesota, Trump lost it by less than 40,000 votes, as he won 44.9% of the electorate, compared to 46.4% in favor of Clinton, and for the state 10 votes in the electoral college.
A strategy to intimidate a republic
Less than 70 days before the presidential election, violence and looting accompanying the ethnic-based demonstrations are receiving intense attention from the Trump administration.
Trump wants to appear as a candidate interested in enforcing the law and maintaining security, and believes that more policemen should be appointed rather than cutting police budgets.
Trump is focusing his election campaign on attacking the Democrats ’record in running cities with high crime rates, in addition to accusing Joe Biden of working to cut police budgets, and his subordination to supporters of the left-wing in the anti-police Democratic Party.
During his acceptance of the party's nomination for the post of vice president, Mike Pence indicated that his country is witnessing an unprecedented state of violence, chaos and looting in many American cities that are ruled by democratic politicians.
Pence said, "President Trump and I defend the right to demonstrate peacefully, but rioting, violence and looting is not a protest. Violence must stop in any city, and we will generalize the rule of law and order."
The attack on Democrats and their accusation of being hostile to the US police was an approach that many of the Republican Party's public convention adhered to.
Polls conducted by the Pew Research Center indicate a higher level of voter confidence in Trump's handling of security, police and law enforcement than Joe Biden.
And 46% considered Trump to be more assertive towards law enforcement and order enforcement, compared to 43% who considered Biden the best in this field.
Good news for Trump
At the same time, the latest opinion polls indicated a decline in the priority of concerns related to the Coronavirus virus among voters in 6 swing states in the upcoming presidential elections, which are Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, at a time when the importance of concerns related to violence, chaos and looting has advanced The shops.
Despite the increase in the number of infections to close to 6 million, in addition to the death of more than 180,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University data at the end of last Wednesday, news of the continuation of the series of violence in a number of American cities precedes the news related to combating the Corona virus.
51% of voters in swing states believe they believe Biden and the Democrats will do a better job than Trump and the Republican Party in dealing with the Corona virus.
And 66% of potential voters expressed serious concerns about the Corona virus, and these percentages decreased from those recorded in the polls during the past months, as the percentages reached 85%, and 4904 voters participated in the opinion poll conducted between 21 and 23 of this month.
Despite the increase in support for President Trump in the six states, Biden kept a lead over Trump, but the ratios between the two candidates converged 68 days before the election.
The results of the survey showed an improvement in Trump's position compared to recent weeks, as Biden narrowed the lead in most swing states, to an average of 49% to 46% in all major states, as is evident in the following numbers:
Arizona: Biden 49%, Trump 47%
Florida: Biden 49%, Trump 46%
Michigan: Biden 50%, Trump 44%
North Carolina: Biden 48%, Trump 47%
Pennsylvania: Biden 49%, Trump 46%
Wisconsin: Biden 49%, Trump 44%
On the other hand, David Fromm, a Republican commentator and speechwriter for former President George W. Bush, noted that "the Trump administration believes in the end of anti-black racism, and that it is no longer an important issue for most Americans."
"Trump is focusing at this point on the people most vulnerable to negative discrimination being whites and religious Christians, and that federal authorities should focus on protecting their rights," Fromm said in an article published in The Atlantic.