As the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates flood the airwaves to condemn the weekend violence in El Paso and Dayton, Donald Trump appears to be hiding out at his golf course.
As Philip Rucker of The Washington Post said on Sunday, Trump’s chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, said that Trump is “angry and upset” about the terrorist attack in El Paso, but he hasn’t shown his face since Friday – before the first of two mass shootings.
Mick Mulvaney said multiple times in @jonkarl interview that Trump is angry and upset by El Paso shooting. But Americans haven’t seen the president since Friday. He’s been at his golf club.
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 4, 2019
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As Trump shelters in place at his golf course, 2020 Democratic candidates have spent the last two days showing real presidential leadership.
Not only have the candidates called for more legislation to address America’s unique gun violence crisis, but they have called the violence – particularly the shooting in El Paso – what it is: a white supremacist attack inspired by Trump.
On the congressional side, Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer is urging Mitch McConnell to call an emergency Senate session to pass the expanded background checks bill that already passed the House.
Meanwhile, as Democrats offer a swift response to the violence, Republicans are falling back on the same talking points that have thwarted action in the past following these incidents.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that the real solution to gun violence is more school prayer and flag saluting. House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy blamed video games, not guns, for the carnage.
Trump has nothing to offer after American tragedies
In the past, we’ve seen presidents of both political parties step up to the plate and do the hard work of consoling the country after tragedy strikes. It’s not easy, but it comes with the territory.
But the sad fact is that, on multiple fronts, Donald Trump has nothing to offer the American people after such events.
For starters, he doesn’t have an empathetic bone in his body. Throughout his presidency, he has shown time and again – whether it’s after hurricanes or after American service members are killed overseas – that he is simply incapable of consoling the impacted families.
Second, Trump has no solutions to offer. We’ve seen some of the deadliest mass shootings in this country’s history since he took office – from Sutherland Springs to Las Vegas. He and his NRA-owned Republican allies in Congress did nothing after those attacks, and they are unlikely to do anything now.
And most importantly, as many of the Democratic presidential candidates have said this weekend, the violence we saw in El Paso was inspired by Trump. His rhetoric – painting immigrants, Muslims and refugees as an infestation – has no doubt fueled violent hate crimes.
It’s no surprise that Donald Trump hasn’t shown his face since Friday, and when he does ultimately speak on these tragedies it will likely be underwhelming and half-hearted.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
