The police shooting of Jacob Blake was shocking.

As the Republican Party convention prepared to roll out Donald Trump’s vision for America, the actual vision from Wisconsin cast an ugly, distracting shadow.

The full facts surrounding the police shooting of Mr Blake, a black man, are still to established.

But the details already on public view were enough to prompt Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to say the seven shots fired pierced “the soul of our nation”.

His call for “an immediate, full and transparent investigation” came easily to him.

From the president, it didn’t come at all.

This at a time when the Trump narrative shaped by his Democratic opponents is around a lack of character, empathy and ability to lead.

Systemic racism is an issue threaded through this election campaign – and the president’s silence on Wisconsin will be deafening for a large constituency in America.

No one needs a rush to judgement, but acknowledgement would convey, at least, some sense of commitment to address the incident and its implications.

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