Vice President Pence vowed to have law and order “in every city in every state in this nation” during a speech in Wisconsin on Thursday.
Pence spread President Trump’s reelection message of law and order while speaking to supporters in Eau Claire, Wis., as he denounced the riots and looting that have arisen out of some recent protests against racial injustice.
“We are going to have law and order in every city in every state in this nation for every American of every race and creed and color, so help us God,” Pence said, according to The Washington Post.
Pence also claimed that Democratic nominee Joe Biden “would double down on the policies that led to violence in America’s cities.”
He said the Trump administration “will always back the blue,” adding it is possible for a political candidate to back both law enforcement and Black communities.
“The people of this country know we don’t have to choose between supporting law enforcement and supporting our African American neighbors,” he said, according to the Post.
Pence is scheduled for a “Cops for Trump Listening Session” later Thursday in Minneapolis, the city where George Floyd’s death in police custody sparked protests that rippled across the country.
The vice president’s support of law and order aligns with past remarks. But Thursday’s comments come as protests broke out nationwide Wednesday after a Kentucky grand jury declined to bring charges against police officers for the death of Breonna Taylor.
Authorities instead announced three lesser counts of wanton endangerment against former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison.
Taylor, 26, was killed in March after plainclothes officers acted on a no-knock warrant and shot her in her own apartment. Her boyfriend fired first on officers, thinking they were intruders, before police returned fire.
The Louisville Metro Police Department declared a state of emergency ahead of the grand jury’s decision. Protests broke out in response, leading to two police officers being shot and 127 people being arrested in the city.
Wisconsin saw its own protests after the police shooting of Jacob Blake last month in Kenosha, Wis.