Violence in Kenosha 'echoes' Trump's anti-protest rhetoric. The White House claims Wisconsin isn't Trump's responsibility.

Following the fatal shooting of two Kenosha protesters, allegedly at the hands of an Illinois teen who "idolized" police and attended one of President Trump's rallies, The Washington Post's Philip Bump argued there is an "inescapable echo" between Trump's rhetoric and the armed "vigilantes" who came to Kenosha to "defend" the city against anti-racism demonstrators.

Something spurred shooting suspect Kyle Rittenhouse to drive to Kenosha with a rifle, writes Bump. And while "it's facile to assume that we can identify that spur as the rhetoric offered" by Trump and his re-election campaign, "it's impossible not to notice how that rhetoric echoes in what appears to have happened in Kenosha."

Bump also highlighted speakers at the Republican National Convention, like Donald Trump Jr. and Rep Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who "decried uncontrolled violent mobs." While the rhetoric is intended to boost Trump's re-election, says Bump, "It's obvious how it could be seen to point somewhere darker."

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"Is it unreasonable to think that this rhetoric reached Kyle Rittenhouse?" asks Bump. The White House would say so. Counselor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News on Thursday the administration has essentially washed its hands of any responsibility for things that go down outside of Republican strongholds. Asked about violence in U.S. cities, Conway said "these are Democratically-led cities and most with Democratic governors ... It's not Donald Trump's watch." The New York Times Jamelle Bouie noted it's not the first time the Trump administration has said "they do not believe they are responsible for the lives or livelihoods of anyone who didn't vote for them."

So while many analysts are pointing to Trump's messaging as fanning the sometimes-literal flames of unrest, the White House is taking a break from its assertions of Trump's "total authority" across the country. Read more at The Washington Post.