Trump's Visits to El Paso and Dayton Were a 'Debacle,' According to His Own Aides

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | August 8, 2019 |

This is how President Obama behaved after the 2015 Charleston shooting:

Dude cannot carry a tune to save his life, and that was one of the most beautiful moments in Presidential history. That was a man grieving and comforting America, and honoring those who died after another needless mass shooting.

We didn’t really see how Trump attempted to comfort the communities in Dayton and El Paso yesterday, because the White House would not let press into the hospitals to record video. We do know that, in El Paso, eight of the wounded still in the hospital refused to see him, attributing Trump and his rhetoric to their injuries and the deaths of 22 people. We also know that Trump threw a hissy fit yesterday because the NYTimes retracted their “Urge Unity vs. Racism” headline, only to turn around and create more disunity. Trump attacked Senator Sherrod Brown and Mayer Whaley on Twitter, even though Brown and Whaley were supportive of the President’s visit:

….misrepresenting what took place inside of the hospital. Their news conference after I left for El Paso was a fraud. It bore no resemblance to what took place with those incredible people that I was so lucky to meet and spend time with. They were all amazing!o
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2019

Unclear what WH is disputing. Sherrod Brown said Trump was well received by the patients. “They were hurting. He was comforting. He did the right things, Melania did the right things. And it’s his job in part to comfort people. I’m glad he did it in those hospital rooms.” https://t.co/jRMgVfp1IE
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 7, 2019

Trump also began the day trashing Beto, he took swipes at Joe Biden, he attacked Joaquin and Julián Castro, called out CNN, MSNBC, and Shepard Smith on Fox News, while also telling reporters that “I would like to stay out of the political fray.” Ahem.

He did post a video that he managed to make all about himself, and characterized his visit with the victims of a mass shooting as “warm & wonderful,” saying he was met with “tremendous enthusiasm & even love.”

Trump turned a mass shooting that was inspired by his racist rhetoric into a campaign ad. He is completely shameless. https://t.co/Nxe5BodWnM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 8, 2019

Meanwhile, he also both sides’d white supremacists again. From the Times:

“I am concerned about the rise of any group of hate,” the president told reporters before leaving the White House. “Any group of hate, I am — whether it’s white supremacy, whether it’s any other kind of supremacy, whether it’s antifa, whether it’s any group of hate, I am very concerned about it.”
That response had echoes of Mr. Trump’s characterization of a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017 that left a counterprotester dead. After initially condemning white supremacy, the president later said that violence had been committed “on many sides.”

Even White House aides conceded that yesterday was a “debacle” for Trump, according to Maggie Haberman.

By the end of the day, Trump quickly switched gears, deciding that he’s going to commute the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor sentenced to 18 years in prison for selling the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama back in 2008. Blagojevich appeared on Celebrity Apprentice. Jared Kushner seems to believe that by commuting Blagojevich, Trump can appeal to some Democrats, which: No.

Meanwhile, we also learned from CNN yesterday that “‘for more than a year’” officials in the White House ‘rebuffed their colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security who were trying to include domestic terror threats, such as those from white supremacists, as a greater priority.’”

Finally, on the same day he sought to console communities in Dayton and El Paso, he destroyed another community, Forrest, Mississippi, where ICE deported 680 immigrants, leaving scenes like this one behind:

HAPPENING NOW: In Forrest, Mississippi where one of the #ICE raids happened nearby Children of those who were arrested are left alone in the streets crying for help. Strangers and neighbors are taking them to a local gym to be put up for the night. FULL STORY TONIGHT ON @WJTV. pic.twitter.com/s2zuTTRYfM
— Alex Love (@AlexLoveWJTV) August 8, 2019

He’s a monster.

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