CSI: American Carnage (Wednesday, September 2, 2020)
The president visits Kenosha where he lavishes praise on John Rhode III, who does not own Rhode’s Camera Store, badly damaged in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. September 1, 2020
TRUMP: Well, we’ll be giving you some help. Okay. We’ll be giving you some help. John Rhode III, owner of Rhode’s Camera Shop. Now I was there and that was 109 years. And you want to say a couple of words. Would you like to? Where is he?
RHODE: This side.
TRUMP: Oh, okay, good. John, stand up please. 109 years.
RHODE: 109 years. Thank you again for coming. Thank you for sending the National Guard and again, the police and the sheriff’s department did an awesome job as well as the fire department. They kept up as good as they could so I thank them.
TRUMP: And we’re going to help you. That’s a very, very complete rebuild we’re talking about down there. That’s incredible. If they would have responded to the first call, it would’ve been a little different story, but they did respond, which is better than some governors, frankly. And once they responded and once we took control of it, things went really well. You just met some very talented people outside and I think you’re going to have clear sailing, but we’re going to try giving you a hand. Your insurance company, your insured, right?
RHODE: Yes we are.
TRUMP: And so they’re helping and they’re being responsible?
RHODE: So far, everything is-
TRUMP: You’ll let me know. You’ll let me know. You got to let me know at the end.
Rhode does not own Rhode’s Camera, sold many years ago, but the actual owner, Tom Gram thought Trump’s visit to Kenosha was for “political gain” and refused to meet with him. So Trump simply swapped out owner Gram and brought in Rhode who praised Trump for bringing in the National Guard, which Trump did not do, and in fact, has no authority to do. Only deceit is the product of this feedback loop.
A small, casual lie about the owner of a camera shop – a lie that roped in everyone present on the scene. Everyone there knew that Rhode does not own the camera store, has not owned the camera store for many years, and as everyone in Kenosha well knows, because, you know, Kenosha is a small place, Rhode is a big Trump fan. Law enforcement was there. Trump called on Kenosha County sheriff David Beth to say a few words. Beth thanked the president for his love. “Thank you for being the president that likes law enforcement. On behalf of law enforcement, I’m telling you, the group that’s here, I hope you could feel the love that they have for you,” Beth said. A few years ago, Beth had something different to say. At a press conference, he excoriated some Black shoplifters who had just been arrested by Kenosha police: “I hope they get put away for the rest of their lives….There are some people that aren’t worth saving. We need to build warehouses and put these people into it and lock these people away for the rest of their lives. ….Lets put them away. At some point we have to stop being politically correct.” Beth then fantasized about all the babies these shoplifters might produce if not jailed for life. He pondered the heroin they would deal. He speculated on all their potential drive-by shootings, their lengthy criminal records, records just waiting to be entered into the, well, the record. None of this had any basis in reality. These young people were Black and from Milwaukee. The rest you can just fill in. In that context, the casual lying about the owner of the Rhode camera shop, is a small thing, a small lie within a larger, universal lie about life in America. But it serves its purpose. It is a reminder to those present in Kenosha that they are, indeed, all part of the solution, which is dictated by Trump with their blessing.