Tom Gram got a big surprise when he watched President Trump's visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
Gram's century-old camera store burned down last week amid protests and unrest in Kenosha, and when Trump planned a visit, the White House asked Gram for a meeting. Gram refused, but that didn't stop the shop from becoming a stop on Trump's tour, Milwaukee NBC News affiliate TMJ4 reports.
When the White House called Gram on Monday and asked him to be part of a tour of destroyed businesses in Kenosha, he said no. "I think everything he does turns into a circus and I just didn't want to be involved in it," Gram said of Trump. But Rode's Camera Shop, which Gram bought from the Rode family eight years ago, still showed up on TV with the president. Instead of meeting with Gram, Trump met with former owner John Rode III and even introduced him as the "owner of Rode's Camera Shop." Rode reportedly still owns the building, but not the business.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Kenosha has seen constant protests after police shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, eight times in the back while he was getting into his car. He is still hospitalized and paralyzed from the waist down. The protests have turned violent and destructive at night as armed vigilantes have come to downtown Kenosha purporting to defend the city. A 17-year-old seemingly affiliated with these militia groups was charged with allegedly shooting and killing two protesters and injuring a third.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian (D) both asked Trump not to come on Tuesday, but he showed up anyway.
-
August 23 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include deficit dimness, steamroller-in-chief, and more
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfullySpeed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records requestSpeed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by TrumpSpeed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Israel starts Gaza assault, approves West Bank planSpeed Read Israel forces pushed into the outskirts of Gaza City and Netanyahu's government gave approval for a settlement to cut the occupied Palestinian territory in two
-
Court says labor board's structure unconstitutionalSpeed Read The ruling has broad implications for labor rights enforcement in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
-
Feds seek harsh charges in DC arrests, except for riflesSpeed Read The DOJ said 465 arrests had been made in D.C. since Trump federalized law enforcement there two weeks ago
-
Trump taps Missouri AG to help lead FBISpeed Read Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been appointed FBI co-deputy director, alongside Dan Bongino
-
Trump warms to Kyiv security deal in summitSpeed Read Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump's support for guaranteeing his country's security 'a major step forward'
