So much for consoler in chief. Donald Trump was supposed to visit victims and first responders in Dayton and El Paso and stay out of camera range, but the trip quickly became about him as he lashed out at his critics via Twitter. From the Washington Post:
“On a day when President Trump vowed to tone down his rhetoric and help the country heal following two mass slayings, he did the opposite — lacing his visits Wednesday to El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, with a flurry of attacks on local leaders and memorializing his trips with grinning thumbs-up photos.“
Trump did his presidential duty on Wednesday, going through the motions of comforting victims of last weekend’s two mass killings in El Paso TX and Dayton OH, which left 31 dead and dozens injured.
For the most part, he kept things low-key. But there were loud protests against his visits to both cities, while angry tweets emanated from Air Force One as Trump flew from one to the other.
“At the memorial site near the Walmart [in El Paso] where Saturday’s shooting unfolded, a peaceful crowd that had gathered in the blistering heat turned rowdy when a woman wearing a red ‘Make America Great Again’ hat appeared and was shouted down,” reports the Associated Press.
As in Dayton, Trump and the First Lady went to a hospital — the University Medical Center of El Paso — where several wounded victims of the Saturday attack are being treated. Police were deployed outside the hospital.
Local and Texas state officials greeted Trump on his arrival aboard Air Force One, including Gov. Greg Abbott, a conservative Republican. One notably not present: Rep. Veronica Escobar, the Democratic congresswoman who represents the city, who declined to meet with Trump, telling CNN “I refuse to be a prop.”
Abbott met with Texas state lawmakers representing El Paso, all Democrats, saying afterward that “We need to ensure that guns are not in the hands of deranged killers, like the man who committed this heinous crime … while also at the same time insuring constitutional rights are not going to be violated.”
“In this case, we’re dealing with terrorism,” Abbott said. “We’re dealing with a white supremacist. We’re dealing with racism.”
“Mr. Trump began a day set aside for healing by delivering a series of political grievances against liberals and the media, once again using Twitter to exhibit the divisive language that has prompted some in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, to protest his visits after horrific shootings in those cities,” reports the New York Times.
It’s unlikely that Trump saw or heard any of the estimated 200 protesters who turned out during his Dayton visit, carrying signs reading “Dump Trump” and “Go To Toledo,” a reference to the president’s error about which Ohio city he was going to.
As in El Paso, there were also counter-protesters, chanting their support for Trump.
After the president’s visit, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said Trump was “comforting” in his talks with patients in the hospital.
Brown and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley (D) said “they used their time with Trump to lobby him to push for an assault-weapons ban and stronger background checks, among other measures,” the Post says.
Brown said it’s been impossible to pass such legislation because of the opposition of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and he was blunt:
“We can’t get anything done in the Senate because Mitch McConnell and the president of the United States are in bed with the gun lobby,” he said.
The day ended as it began. Trump lashing out at local leaders who he believed weren’t deferential enough him, or disrespected him or who knows?
“The president also rejected calls to abandon the way he talks about immigrants, saying that “illegal immigration is a terrible thing for this country” and insisting that migrants “are pouring in to this country.”
Such words were certain to resonate in El Paso, where the shooter apparently targeted mainly Hispanics, including Mexican citizens who had crossed the border to shop at Walmart. Eight Mexicans were killed and several others wounded.
