Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a Kenosha Wisconsin police officer in late August.

It's up my son, seven times.

Like he didn't matter, but my son matters.

Since that shooting, Kenosha has been the site of unrest, protests, vandalism and violence.

Kenosha is still hunkered down, boarded up and reeling from days of flaming buildings and anger in the streets.

Days after the protests and unrest began, 17-year-olds Kyle Rittenhouse traveled a short trip from his home to Kenosha.

We're self-declared militia members and armed counter protesters had been appearing.

Rittenhouse was armed with a rifle.

Later, authorities say Rittenhouse shot three protesters, killing two of them.

Trump has condemned violence from those he calls rioters and looters, yet Trump suggested Rittenhouse acted in self-defense.

I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would have been killed, but it's under investigation.

Trump has emphasized what he calls his message of law and order, defending law enforcement, condemning protesters, and insisting democratic leaders and democratic nominee Joe Biden are responsible for the country's turmoil.

Biden, meanwhile, has focused on a message of unity. He sought to strike a difficult balance between condemning violence on all sides of the political spectrum and acknowledging systemic racism in the country and in policing.

I look at this violence when I see lives and communities and the dreams of small businesses being destroyed and the opportunity for real progress on the issues of race and police reform and justice being put to the test.

The two candidates are painting very different pictures about the state of our country and about the causes of unrest.

So as we head to it in the November election, how much are these two starkly different narratives, a reflection of the divisions in our country?

How much are they responsible for stoking those divisions? And are there any checks on what the US president can say?

This is Ken He, do that, a podcast about the powers and limitations of the American presidency. I'm Allison Michaels.

So in Kenosha was constant. What happened first was Jacob Blake was shot seven times by a white police officer in the back.

That's the post White House reporter Ashley Parker. She's been covering Trump's response to the events out of Kenosha.

And following that, the city erupted into civil unrest and racial justice protests and more violence and looting about two days after Jacob Blake was shot 17 year old, a Trump supporter named Kyle Rittenhouse was out there protesting vigilante style.

He had an assault weapon and he ended up killing two people. And then the city began teetering on the brink in the wake of all of this.

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