Trump Calls Pittsburgh Protest Reports ‘Fake News’

On Wednesday President Donald Trump insisted that he was “treated so warmly” in Pittsburgh while at the same time he continued to vocalize his complaints against media coverage of his visit. He said that negative stories about his Pittsburgh trip were “fake news.”

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The president’s visit to the site of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history was the subject of great controversy, both within Pennsylvania and around the country.

In a morning tweet, Trump dismissed media reports about massive protests against his visit to the Tree of Life synagogue where 11 people were killed Saturday. On the contrary, he said, he was “shown great respect.”

“Melania and I were treated very nicely yesterday in Pittsburgh. The Office of the President was shown great respect on a very sad & solemn day. We were treated so warmly. Small protest was not seen by us, staged far away. The Fake News stories were just the opposite-Disgraceful!”

Several hundred people marched along Trump’s motorcade route and around the Squirrel Hill neighborhood during Trump’s visit on Tuesday. The throng marched in quiet protest, marking the solemnity of the occasion. Many carried signs that condemned the president’s inflammatory and racially-charged rhetoric.

Trump, however, described the protests as “small” and maintained that “they were not seen by us, they were staged far away.”

In fact, many hundreds of Pittsburgh residents had organized the protests against the president’s visit on Tuesday and they were marching just one block away from the synagogue’s location.

CNN also reported that Trump’s motorcade had to be redirected in a different direction from its initial planned route due to the size of the protests.

Trump’s first public comments did not mention the shooting victims, who were still being buried on Wednesday. Rather his comments discussed his personal treatment during his presidential visit that supposedly was intended to give comfort to the thousands of people in Pittsburgh — and especially in the Jewish community — who have been experiencing shock and grief since last Saturday morning when the appalling mass murder took place.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.