Trump links Ohio shooter to liberals
Dems reject any connection with politics
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump linked the suspected gunman in the Dayton mass shooting to liberal candidates and organizations Wednesday, even as he pushed back against critics who tied the El Paso attack to his own comments on immigration.
Posts from a Twitter account that appeared to belong to Connor Betts, the 24-year-old Dayton shooter, endorsed communism, bemoaned Trump’s election and supported Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is running for president. Betts killed nine people including his sister Sunday before officers fatally shot him.
“If you look at Dayton, that was a person that supported, I guess you would say, Bernie Sanders, I understood; antifa, I understood; Elizabeth Warren, I understood,” Trump said.
Antifa is a reference to antifascist protesters.
Trump and White House officials stressed repeatedly that they have avoided blaming liberals for the Dayton shooting, but they noted again and again that the shooter was an apparent supporter.
Democrats rejected any connection between the gunman’s motives and liberal politics. They said Trump was seeking to distract Americans from criticism that the president’s own rhetoric on immigration contributed to the mass shooting in El Paso that left 22 dead and many others wounded.
Authorities believe the suspected gunman in that shooting, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, posted an anti-immigrant screed online shortly before the attack. In the 2,300-word post, Crusius said he worried that a “Hispanic invasion of Texas” was furthering the elimination of the white race.
“Leaders have a responsibility to speak out and to not incite violence,” Warren campaign spokeswoman Kristen Orthman said in a statement. “But let’s be clear — there is a direct line between the president’s rhetoric and the stated motivations of the El Paso shooter.”
Trump told reporters that his opponents are trying to score political points by linking his comments about immigrants to the El Paso shooting.