Donald Trump is the master of deflection. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he shifts blame to others. Instead of owning up to his mistakes, he attacks others for his own failures.
So when Trump finally addressed the two mass shootings over the weekend, did anyone think he would assign any responsibility to himself?
On cue, Trump blamed the massacres in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, which left at least 31 killed and many injured, on mental illness, video games and the Internet … not on guns or himself.
Reading from a teleprompter, Trump called on the country to condemn racism and white supremacy, never acknowledging his own role in promoting those ideas.
The shooter in El Paso, inconveniently for Trump, left behind a manifesto parroting the Divider-in-Chief’s own racist rhetoric.
In the document, the gunman referred to Hispanics as “invaders” and used the phrase “send them back” ― reminiscent of the racist remarks put forth by Trump last month in his attacks against four congresswomen of color, one of whom was an asylum seeker from Somalia.
Democrats, along with many other people of good conscience, have long warned Trump’s stoking of racial division over the last few years would lead to these types of violent acts … many committed by white nationalists living on the edge. Yet when it has come to Republican censure, mostly silence.
Respected journalist, Tom Brokaw, recently said, Trump “lights the fuse everyday.”
Right now there are a couple of gun control bills, passed by the House, sitting on Mitch McConnell’s desk. Will “The Grim Reaper” reconvene the Senate to vote on those measures? Unlikely.
The latest mass shootings come only one week after the FBI warned of the growing domestic terrorist threat, fueled by white nationalism.
Unfortunately, the Trump-controlled Department of Justice will do little to seriously fight this domestic terrorism problem while we have a man in the White House whose political calculation is that ramping up racial division will somehow help him get reelected.
But at least Trump is right about one thing. He said, “Hate has no place in our country.”
Yes. And you, Mr. “so-called” President, along with your bully pulpit, have no place in our White House.
Photo | screenshot via whitehouse.gov