Trump to visit grieving cities
Not everyone happy president plans to go to Dayton, El Paso
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is preparing to visit Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, appearances that will not be universally welcome as the two cities grieve from weekend mass shootings that left 31 dead and many injured and rattled.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway confirmed Trump’s plans Tuesday, saying he “has wanted to go there since he learned of these tragedies.”
Conway suggested that Trump’s itinerary would be similar to other visits in the wake of mass shootings or natural disasters, which have included meetings with those affected and with law enforcement and first responders.
Several Democratic officials have urged Trump not to visit El Paso, a city of about 683,000 with a largely Latino population, in the aftermath of what is being investigated as an anti-immigrant attack at a Walmart that left 22 dead, because they say the president’s fiery rhetoric fosters the kind of hatred that may have motivated Saturday’s rampage.
And on Tuesday afternoon, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat, encouraged people unhappy over Trump’s upcoming visit to the city of about 140,000 to protest.
“I think people should stand up and say they’re not happy if they’re not happy he’s coming,” Whaley said.
The gunman in Dayton nine people early Sunday.
Officials in El Paso believe the alleged gunman posted a manifesto that echoed Trump’s harsh rhetoric on immigrants, notably describing his attack as “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
“This president, who helped create the hatred that made Saturday’s tragedy possible, should not come to El Paso,” former Democratic congressman and presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke of Texas, tweeted Monday. “We do not need more division. We need to heal. He has no place here.”
Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, whose district includes the Walmart targeted in the massacre, made clear that Trump was not welcome in her hometown as it mourned.
Escobar tweeted that the White House had invited her to join Trump during his visit but noted she will instead attend a rally that organizers say will confront the president and white supremacy while calling for gun control.
Escobar said Tuesday that victims’ families were already using the city’s newly opened resource center where various government and mental health services have set up booths.
“There’s going to be a lot of trauma in our community; a lot of children saw things that no human being should see,” Escobar said.
During a television appearance Monday, Ecobar urged Trump and his team “to consider the fact that his words and his actions have played a role in this.”
“From my perspective, he is not welcome here,” Escobar said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “He should not come here while we are in mourning.”
El Paso’s Republican mayor, Dee Margo, announced Trump’s visit at a news conference Monday, preemptively defending the decision to welcome the president while acknowledging there would be blowback: “I’m already getting the emails and the phone calls.”
While saying he would welcome Trump in an official capacity and ask him “to support our efforts with any and all federal resources that are available,” Margo also cautioned the president against invoking his previous rhetoric to talk about the border city.
“I will continue to challenge any harmful and inaccurate statements made about El Paso,” Margo said. “We will not allow anyone to portray El Paso in a way that is not consistent with our history and values.”
Speaking to reporters in Dayton, Whaley said she isn’t sure that Trump’s visit will be helpful.
Asked whether Trump was coming too soon after the shootings, Whaley said: “He’s the president of the United States. He does his calendar. I do mine.”
Meanwhile, as lawmakers across the country sparred over how to prevent mass shootings, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced proposals Tuesday to combat gun violence.
The Republican leader called on the state Legislature to increase gun background checks and pass a law on “safety protection orders” allowing the court-ordered removal of guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.
Trump, meanwhile, took to Twitter on Tuesday to push back against a tacit rebuke from former President Barack Obama.
In social media posts Monday, Obama called on the country to reject words “coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders” that feed fear and hatred and normalize racist sentiments.
In his tweet, Trump quoted cohost Brian Kilmeade on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” as pointing out that it was unusual for past presidents to speak out about the current occupant of the Oval Office in the wake of mass shootings.
“Did George Bush ever condemn President Obama after Sandy Hook,” Trump quoted Kilmeade as saying. “President Obama had 32 mass shootings during his reign. Not many people said Obama is out of Control. Mass shootings were happening before the President even thought about running for Pres.” killed