This past week, the nation was again confronted with the tragedy of a school shooting. This past week’s shooting took place at a high school in Parkland, Florida, where an expelled student returned to their former school and opened fire, killing 17 people and wounding many more.
The shooting has gripped the nation, again catalyzing the debate about what to do about the obvious problem of gun violence in the U.S. The president has proven unsurprisingly to not be an ally to those seeking common sense gun control in the aftermath of the shooting; instead, he’s ignored the apparent need for gun control in favor of focusing on the shooter’s alleged neuroses.
Not only can the president be considered an opponent to those pushing for common sense gun control, but so can his family members.
Forever hungry for attention, no matter the cost, the Trumps take to Twitter on a regular basis to post any one of a number of formulaic incendiary messages.
In that light, this past Friday, the president’s son Eric took to the platform to post a video of Marine One landing at the Florida Mar-a-Lago resort branded with his family’s name, completely ignoring the aftermath of the Florida school shooting in the process.
The post underscores the fact that, through all of this, there’s something that the Trumps, the president included, remain committed to — and it’s not the American people. Rather, they’ve got their private business interests to look out for, interests that the president infamously refused to detach himself from upon assuming his present position.
Him refusing to do so opens the door to the possibility of striking conflicts of interest, a possibility that’s been repeatedly playing out through such means as the patronizing of Trump’s D.C. hotel by political interests seeking to either get on the president’s good side or stay on it.
Trump has also already, as of Saturday, taken advantage of his real estate holdings to the point of having spent at least 53 days at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort since taking office. In the process, he’s made money off the presidency, since the government has been forced to pay his company often significant sums of cash to use items like golf carts in their protection of the president.
His presently unfolding trip to Mar-a-Lago provided an opportunity for the president to make a detour to visit Parkland, Florida, a visit that included a stop at the hospital where victims of the massacre are being treated.
Eric Trump didn’t mention any of this in his family propaganda, setting off many Twitter users against him.
Check out his original post below.
.#MarineOne landing at #MaraLago. ?????? pic.twitter.com/HA89hxusA6
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) February 16, 2018
Prominent political commentator Ana Navarro responded by writing Friday:
‘An entire community is grieving. 17 people are dead. The first funeral, that of a 14 year-old, is being held today down the road. But yeah, nice view.’
Author Nell Scovell was similarly biting in her response to the post from the president’s son.
She wrote Friday:
’17 children and teachers died yesterday in Florida and you’re posting about a helicopter landing at a resort? You’re a family of sociopaths.’
Perhaps the situation would be different if the president had taken any significant steps to impose meaningful gun control measures in the aftermath of the shooting. He, however, has not, making Eric’s post that much more of a slap in the face.
Check out other Twitter’s responses to him below.
Featured Image via Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images
