Jacob Blake, Sr., is continuing to advocate for his son, Jacob Blake, Jr., who was shot seven times in the back by Kenosha, Wisconsin, police over a week ago. And the older Blake is making it clear that he has no interest in playing politics with Donald Trump, not with his son’s life at risk.
“This is my son’s life we are talking about,” Blake told CNN on Monday. “I am not getting into politics. It is all about my son, man. It has nothing to do with a photo op. It has to do with Jacob’s operation.”
Blake was responding to Trump’s comments made during a news conference on Monday, where the president confirmed that he would not be meeting with Blake’s family during a planned visit to Kenosha.
“Well, I spoke to the (family’s) pastor…and I thought it would be better not to do anything where there were lawyers involved. They wanted me to speak. They wanted to have lawyers involved and I thought that was inappropriate, so I didn’t do that. But I did speak with the pastor of the family,” Trump claimed.
Ben Crump, the attorney representing the Blake family, said that at this point the family was interested in ensuring justice for the young father, who is now paralyzed from the waist down.
“I don’t know why the President wouldn’t want the family to have their lawyers on the phone,” Crump told CNN. “He seems to have lawyers with him when he talks to people.”
Trump is expected to visit Kenosha on Tuesday, despite discouragement from local officials, who have cautioned the President that his presence might result in more harm than good.
“I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state,” Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers wrote in a letter to Trump on Sunday. “I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”