Donald Trump did not really want to visit the scene of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. After all, he does not have any empathy, so he does not even understand the point. and considers the effort beneath him, as opposed to our previous president. The night of the shooting, when he carried on another campaign trail rally, he spent more time talking about his hair than the massacre. Then, POTUS changed his mind about going.
Mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto asked POTUS not to come, because this was the time for families to bury their dead. Three funerals were scheduled for today. The shooter killed 11 members of the synagogue at their service from nine families. He murdered also wounded an additional six people.
Peduto also explained to Trump that there was not enough security to cover both the families and their funerals plus the president. The contrarian leader of this country insisted on coming anyway. One family has refused to meet with him.
It has been hard to get our heads around the seriously mixed messages coming out of the White House. Trump will read a statement appropriate to a president about the fallen. Then, he will turn around and say something heartless about refugees. Jewish tradition welcomes refugees.
Over 70,000 people signed a letter asking the man sitting in the Oval Office to stay away. Jewish leaders have indicated that the commander-in-chief has not come out strongly enough to denounce anti-Semitism in this nation. Just days ago, Trump said he was “a nationalist,” which people equate with “white nationalist,” in spite of the president’s claim that he used the word in the same way that he used “patriotic.”
However, if Trump truly was a patriot, then he should have used that word. Words matter, especially when they come from the president of the United States. Oddly last January, the president’s Holocaust statement left out the word “Jew.”
After a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, where a white nationalist ran down and killed a peaceful protester, Trump said that there were good people — on both sides.
According to The Independent, the president’s critics say:
‘The president has fostered a hostile environment for people of color, and of Jewish people in the United States. His rhetoric, they say, has allowed anti-semitic sentiments to flourish during his presidency.’
Trump followers and White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders have defended all accusations. They claim that he has no space for violence of any kind targeting minority groups.
The president’s words say otherwise. He has called out over a dozen top Democratic leaders, a major Democratic donor who is Jewish, and CNN by name after they criticized him. One of Trump’s followers took him at his word and sent all of them pipe bombs. In the midst of the FBI recovering those bombs, the commander-in-chief blamed the press, calling them “the enemy of the people.”
Many would argue that was inciting violence.
First Lady Melania Trump will accompany her husband. They will arrive late afternoon and leave about four hours later. Several key Washington politicians have refused to go with him. Those who declined POTUS’ invitation include:Â Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
