Ken Cuccinelli confirms DHS could send more federal agents to Portland
Acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli addresses unrest and deadly violence in Portland, Oregon.
Democratic Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler "hates President Trump more than he loves people in Portland," acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said on Monday in the wake of almost 100 days of ongoing protests and violence in that city.
“[Wheeler] doesn’t care about peace if he thinks he can score cheap political points on the president while he is up for reelection,” Cuccinelli told “America’s Newsroom.”
PORTLAND MAYOR SENDS OPEN LETTER TO TRUMP: 'NO THANKS'
Cuccinelli's comments came after Trump blasted Wheeler Sunday morning with a string of tweets and retweets regarding the ongoing protests and violence in the city.
In the aftermath of a clash between Black Lives Matter protesters and Trump supporters that left one person dead, Trump railed against Wheeler for openly refusing help from the National Guard.
Cuccinelli claimed Trump wants peace, which he says is made evident by the commander in chief’s deployment of federal resources to combat the rioting in Kenosha, Wis.
“That’s all we did in Kenosha, is advance what was needed to achieve peace there. [There] was some reluctance on Gov. Evers' part at first,” Cuccinelli said.
But when the violence continued to escalate," Cucinnelli said, "[Evers] took the president up on his offer. You’ve got over 200 DOJ participants, you’ve got some from DHS, you’ve got 2,000 National Guard. It works if they would take the president’s formula in Oregon, but, the reason they won’t is simply that the president wants them to do it. That’s the only reason they’re doing this and it’s terrible, pathetic, and horrible leadership.”
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Wheeler shared his open letter to Trump on Friday, as protests and violence in his city had already been going on for 90 days.
"On behalf of the City of Portland: No thanks," Wheeler wrote in an open letter to Trump Friday. "We don’t need your politics of division and demagoguery."
The letter continued: "Portlanders are on to you. We have already seen your reckless disregard for human life in your bumbling response to the COVID pandemic. And we know you’ve reached the conclusion that images of violence or vandalism are your only ticket to reelection."
Fox News' Marisa Schultz and Brie Stimson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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