Anger at Trump visit on day of funerals
President’s actions stoke tensions days out from midterms
President Donald Trump visited a grief-stricken Pittsburgh yesterday in a trip meant to unify after tragedy, but his arrival provoked protests from residents and consternation from local officials in the aftermath of the synagogue shooting that left 11 people dead.
The city’s mayor urged Trump not to make the hastily planned day trip.
Trump did not speak publicly during his brief trip, instead quietly paying tribute at Tree of Life synagogue by laying flowers for the 11 victims and visiting a hospital to see officers who were wounded in Saturday’s shooting.
But Trump’s trip to the area so soon after the attack tore open political tensions in the largely Democratic city, as residents angered by Trump’s arrival protested even as the first couple tried to keep a low profile.
“The sense in the community is that they didn’t think this was a time for a political photo shoot,” said Democratic Congressman Mike Doyle, whose congressional district covers the Squirrel Hill neighbourhood where the synagogue is located. “There are strong feelings in the community about him and the divisive nature of his rhetoric.”
Trump has faced charges in recent days that his harsh political tone and effort to stoke public fears about immigrants has fomented a rising rightwing extremism embraced by the man charged in the synagogue shooting and by the suspect arrested last week after a series of bombs were mailed to prominent critics of the President. Trump has pushed back, saying the media is responsible for the growing tensions across the country.
As the President touched down in southwestern Pennsylvania yesterday, almost 2000 demonstrators assembled not far from where some of the shooting’s victims had been buried that day. The relatives of at least one victim declined to meet with Trump, pointing to his “inappropriate” remarks immediately after the shooting, when the President suggested the shooting could have been avoided if the synagogue had had an armed guard.
A spokesman for the city’s Democratic mayor, Bill Peduto, said he was invited to appear with the President but declined. Peduto had urged Trump not to visit Pittsburgh until after the funerals for the victims, saying, “all attention should be on the victims”.
Some residents said they welcomed the president even if it did anger some of their neighbours.
“I think it’s great he took the time out of his day to give comfort and peace to the families who are suffering,” said Sandy DeFrancesco, who works at the dental school at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre Presbyterian Hospital, where Trump visited four wounded police officers as well as their family and friends. “He’s our President,” she said. “He deserves the respect other presidents got.”
Travelling with Trump were first lady Melania Trump; daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, senior White House advisers who are Jewish; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; Chief of Staff John Kelly; and Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States.
Inside the synagogue, Trump and his wife lit candles in honour of each of the 11 victims — but did not enter the crime scene area, according to the White House.
Still, some of Trump’s closest congressional allies defended the president’s decision to travel to Pittsburgh — a trip that comes ahead of a spate of campaign rallies that puts the president on the road through to election day next Wednesday. The White House had asked the top four congressional leaders — Republicans Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer — to accompany Trump to Pittsburgh, but all declined, according to three officials familiar with the invitations.