Former first lady Michelle Obama has accused the White House of fomenting "systemic racism" after being asked about the recent police shooting and violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“These past few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about what our kids are seeing every day in this country — the lack of empathy, the division stoked in times of crisis, the age-old and systemic racism that’s been so prominent this summer,” Obama tweeted on Friday.
Obama continued, “Sometimes they see it on the news. Sometimes they see it from the White House Rose Garden. And sometimes they see it from the back seat of a car.”
The statement from Obama is a strong blow of criticism against President Donald Trump after her appearance at the Democratic National Convention.
Since the DNC, violence has erupted in Kenosha following the police shooting of Blake Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot in the back seven times as he attempted to enter his car by a white officer on Sunday.
Trump and other speakers at the Republican National Convention centered their messages around the looting and rioting in cities around the country in response to police brutality.
Reports have said that three of Blake's children sat in the back seat of the SUV when he was shot.
Trump has said that violence in cities around the country will continue if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the election.
At this week’s Republican National Convention, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence cautioned that “no one will be safe in Biden’s America.”
Outgoing White House counselor Kellyanne Conway even said on Thursday that the uprisings could propel Trump politically.
“The more chaos and anarchy and violence reign, the better it is for who is the clear choice for who’s best on public safety and law and order,” Conway said.
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