CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Mark Pocan
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
And joining me now is Democratic Congressman Mark Pocan of Wisconsin. He was actually born and raised there in Kenosha. Thank you so much for being with us.
REP. MARK POCAN (D-WI): Well thank you, Brianna, glad to be here.
KEILAR: I know this is a very busy time for you, and I know that this is something that is very personal to you, being something that is happening in your community. And I just wonder overall what you think about the president visiting Kenosha today?
POCAN: Well, I was in Kenosha this morning in fact, visiting my 91- year-old mother. We talked to a lot of folks in downtown, and we talked to some people and just try to get their reactions. The problem is, this is a town that's healing right now and the last thing you need is anything that's not a healing, unifying message.
And as you said, I haven't seen Donald Trump in three and a half years do very much that's unifying. And all his messaging on this so far has really been backing up vigilantes and militia and talking about the (INAUDIBLE), you know, mothers (ph) (INAUDIBLE) grandmother of (INAUDIBLE) protestors. One of the (INAUDIBLE) dad had a business growing up.
So, you know, I've seen the devastation firsthand, and Donald Trump needs to be not-Donald Trump for a change if this visit's going to be successful.
KEILAR: Yes, if he's going to deliver a unifying message, as the White House is promising.
One of the things that we've heard -- you know, all of this originated, the initial protesting originated because of the killing of Jacob Blake at the hands of police. And it's all on video, he was shot seven times in the back.
The president was talking about actions like this, where police in a split second make a decision and they make the wrong decision. And he likened it to a golfer choking on a three-foot putt. I wonder what you think and also if you've heard anything from folks in the area about the president saying that.
POCAN: Yes. I mean, you know, unfortunately, that's the rhetoric we're afraid he's going to say today because that will not help any healing in this community.
And you know, if you think about it, this is Donald Trump's America, where we have people wearing masks because they're afraid of COVID, we have 100,000 small businesses that have closed down because of their actions. And we have racial tensions, and then we have a president flying around not to unify people, but to build support among his base, which is not what a president's supposed to do.
So everything about this visit is likely going to be wrong. And if he were to come and have a unifying message, I would have a completely different take on this. If Joe Biden were to come with a unifying message, that would be healing and helpful.
But when you make those kind of goofy comparisons about something as serious as people being shot, you don't serve Kenosha or any community very well.
[14:30:08]
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