President Donald Trump has wrapped up his visits to cities reeling from mass shootings that left 31 dead where he was greeted by warring protesters amid a fierce debate over gun control after his calls for unity fell on deaf ears.
The president and first lady, Melania Trump, flew to El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday after visiting the Dayton, Ohio, hospital where many of the victims of Sunday’s attack in that city were treated.
For most of the day, the president was kept out of view of the reporters traveling with him.
Outside Dayton’s Miami Valley Hospital, at least 200 protesters gathered, blaming Trump’s incendiary rhetoric for inflaming political and racial tensions in the country and demanding action on gun control.
He was greeted by placards that read ‘Dump Trump’ and ‘You are why’ as protesters pushed for stricter gun control.
They stood next to a giant baby Trump blimp, like ones that have appeared at previous protests, demanding the American leader ‘stop being a baby’ and stand up to the NRA’ as he began a quick tour to console those affected and congratulate police for how they handled events.
In El Paso, Trump’s motorcade passed protesters holding ‘Racist Go Home’ signs.
But there was also support for the president in both cities with warring groups pictured engaged in fierce disagreements at the sites of both shootings.
Despite protests in both cities, the White House insisted Trump had received positive receptions. One aide tweeted that Trump was a ‘rock star’ at the Dayton hospital.
A pro-Trump demonstrator, right, argues with an anti-Trump demonstrator, left, outside the University Medical Center, where Trump held a meeting with first responders in the wake of last weekend’s mass shootings at a Walmart store, in El Paso, Texas
Demonstrators protest the visit of US President Donald Trump to the site of the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, on August 7. Nine people were killed on August 4 in the city’s popular Oregon District
President Donald Trump arrives at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to visit mass shooting sites in Dayton, Ohio
Some signs mocked his geography blunder in response to the attack which he accidentally said occurred in Toledo
A protester held a sign showing Trump where Dayton is in relation to Toledo. Another sign showed an orange Trump
Protesters gather around a baby Trump balloon to voice their rally against gun violence and a visit
Supporters of Trump scream at counter-protesters near the scene of Sunday morning’s mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio
Counter-measures: Pro-Trump activists were also in Dayton mounting a smaller attempt to make their point
Paso resident Randall Buchberg II visits a vigil for the El Paso Walmart shooting in El Paso on Wednesday
A Trump supporter drives a bus with flags supporting Trump down 5th Street at the site of Sunday morning’s mass shooting that left 9 dead, and 27 wounded
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham tweeted that the couple had ‘been stopping between rooms to thank the hardworking medical staff’. The tweet added: ‘Very powerful moments for all!’
Government officials said the visits would be similar to those he’s paid to grieving communities in the past.
‘We’ll be meeting with first responders, law enforcement and some of the victims and paying my respects and regards,’ Trump said Wednesday morning. ‘It’s a terrific opportunity, really, to congratulate some of the police and law enforcement. The job they’ve done was incredible. Really incredible.’
Trump’s visit to the Texas city of El Paso, on the border with Mexico, came later in the day. It’s where 22 people were killed at a Walmart store on Saturday by a 21-year-old man who had posted an anti-immigrant manifesto online.
The mayors of both cities were calling for the president to change the way he talks about immigrants.
Democratic presidential candidates continued to criticize him, including Beto O’Rourke, who said he would address a counter-rally in his home town of El Paso during the president’s visit.
In Dayton, holding a sign that said ‘Not Welcome Here’, Lynnell Graham said she thinks Trump’s response to the shootings has been insincere.
‘To me he comes off as fake,’ she said.
Dorothee Bouquet, stood in the bright sun with her five-year-old daughter and two-year-old son, tucked in a stroller. She told them they were going to a protest ‘to tell grownups to make better rules’.
In El Paso, Trump’s motorcade passed protesters holding ‘Racist Go Home’ signs. The president flew to Texas on Wednesday
President Trump has wrapped up his visits to cities reeling from mass shootings that left 31 dead and dozens more wounded
Trump was seen standing behind his vehicle after arriving to carry out his duties as the American leader on Wednesday
Demonstrators chant as they protest the arrival of President Donald Trump outside Miami Valley Hospital after a mass shooting that occurred in the Oregon District early Sunday morning
Protesters younger and older were seen on the streets of Dayton as Trump visited those affected by the tragedies
A woman gestures as US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump leave Miami Valley Hospital after meeting with first responders, hospital staff, victims and their families
Demonstrators stand outside Miami Valley Hospital where President Donald Trump met with people affected
The motorcade of US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump leaves Miami Valley Hospital
A group of people stand outside the Miami Valley Hospital, as President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are inside
Police block the street as demonstrators protest the arrival of President Donald Trump outside Miami Valley Hospital
But many residents were clear about how they felt after the back-to-back massacres, occurring 13 hours apart, as expressed through signs that read, ‘Enough is enough’ and ‘End this terror’.
As the national debate over gun safety reopens protesters in Dayton had heckled Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, at a vigil for the shooting victims with chants of ‘Do something!’
When POTUS left the White House on Wednesday, he said he wanted to strengthen background checks for gun purchases and make sure mentally ill people did not carry guns,opting for less drastic moves to save lives. He predicted congressional support for those two measures but not for banning assault rifles.
‘I can tell you that there is no political appetite for that at this moment,’ Trump told reporters at the White House. ‘But I will certainly bring that up … There is a great appetite, and I mean a very strong appetite, for background checks.’
It resulted in crowds holding up placards reading ‘just say no to fascism’. A clever image of Trump’s hair in the shape of a firearm, declared: ‘stop gun violence.’
Referring to Trump’s 2016 declaration he would ‘drain the swamp’, one placard read: ‘Drain YOUR swamp’.
A protester clashes with a Trump supporter wearing a MAGA hat near the hospital that Trump was visiting in El Paso
People gather near Miami Valley Hospital in protest, Wednesday, saying Trump should ‘step down’ and ‘do something’
A little girl held up names of victims as Trump visited Dayton days after the shooting attack took lives
Those opposed to the president’s message lined the streets and warned others ‘vote or die’
One sign, seen right, read ‘tell Putin to tell Mitch to ‘Hold the vote”. Another, left, mocked Trump’s blunder after he called Dayton Toledo
More optimistic messages among chanters asserted: ‘We can end gun violence’ and ‘Everytown for gun safety’.
Mr Trump defended his rhetoric while strongly criticizing those who say he bears some responsibility for the nation’s divisions, returning to political arguing even as he called for unity.
‘My critics are political people,’ Mr Trump said, noting the apparent political leanings of the gunman in the Dayton killings and suggesting the man was supportive of Democrats.
In Dayton, Trump was greeted at the airport by a bipartisan group of state and local officials, including Democratic Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who had said she would welcome Trump but planned to tell him he had been ‘unhelpful’ on the issue of gun violence.
In El Paso Raul Melendez, whose father-in-law, David Johnson, was killed in Saturday’s shooting, said the most appropriate thing Trump could do was to meet with relatives of the victims.
‘It shows that he actually cares, if he talks to individual families,’ said Melendez, who credits Johnson with helping his 9-year-old daughter survive the attack by pushing her under a counter. Melendez, an Army veteran and the son of Mexican immigrants, said he holds only the shooter responsible for the attack.
‘That person had the intent to hurt people, he already had it,’ he said. ‘No one’s words would have triggered that.’ Local Democratic lawmakers who’d expressed concern about the visit said Trump had nonetheless hit the right notes Wednesday.
‘He was comforting, he did the right things, and Melania did the right things. It’s his job to comfort people,’ said Sen. Sharrod Brown, who nonetheless said he was ‘very concerned about a president that divides in his rhetoric and plays to race in his rhetoric’.
‘I think the victims and the first responders were grateful that the president of the United States came to Dayton,’ added Mayor Nan Whaley, who said she felt it was probably good Trump did not visit the site of the shooting.
‘A lot of the time his talk can be very divisive, and that’s the last thing we need in Dayton,’ she said.
Critics have said Trump stokes violence with racially incendiary rhetoric. The El Paso massacre is being investigated as a hate crime and the FBI said the Dayton shooter had explored violent ideologies.
On Monday, Trump gave a speech focusing on mental health reforms, tighter internet regulation and wider use of the death penalty. Democrats accuse Trump of hiding behind talk of mental illness and the influence of social media rather than committing to laws they insist are needed to restrict gun ownership and the types of weapons that are legal.
Demonstrators greet the motorcade of Trump as it passes by before visiting the site of a mass shooting in Dayton
A clever image of Trump’s hair in the shape of a firearm, declared: ‘Stop gun violence’
Referring to Trump’s 2016 declaration he would ‘drain the swamp’, one placard read: ‘Drain YOUR swamp’
Anti-Trump demonstrators protest in the Oregon District, where a mass shooting early Sunday morning left nine dead and 27 wounded
More optimistic messages among chanters asserted: ‘We can end gun violence’ and ‘Everytown for gun safety’
Demonstrators line the street near Miami Valley Hospital in anticipation of a visit from President Donald Trump
‘Not welcome here’: Some protesters showed up to let the president know they don’t support his message
‘Racism poisons U.S.’: A woman held her sign and the USA flag as she clutched a child’s hand on the other side in Dayton
‘Vote him out’: Trump visited the city today to offer his support to the community but did not go into the Oregon District where the shooting occurred
In Iowa, Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden said in a campaign speech that Trump was fanning the flames of white supremacy.
Authorities in Texas have said they are investigating Saturday’s shooting spree in the predominantly Hispanic west Texas border city of El Paso as a hate crime and an act of domestic terrorism. They cited a racist manifesto posted online shortly before the shooting, which they attributed to the suspect.
An open letter to Trump on Wednesday in the El Paso Times described the border city as having ‘a deep tradition of racial harmony’ whose people came together after the tragedy. It admonished Trump for calling El Paso one of the country’s most dangerous cities in his February State of the Union address.
‘The violence that pierced El Paso, drawing you here today, is not of our own community,’ wrote editor Tim Archuleta. ‘An outsider came here to shatter our city, to murder our neighbors. A white man from another Texas city came to target the more than 80% of us who share Hispanic roots.’
Trump, in his televised White House speech on Monday, condemned ‘sinister ideologies’ and hate. His supporters say Democrats unfairly blame him for the behavior of criminals.
Demonstrators hold a banner to protest the visit of President Donald Trump to the border city after the Aug. 3 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday
Gilberto Zuniga holds a sign to protest the visit of President Donald Trump to the border city after the Aug. 3 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas
Fernando Montoya, right, waves a Mexican flag to protest the visit of President Donald Trump to the border city after the Aug. 3 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday
A demonstrator holds a sign to protest the visit of President Donald Trump to the border city after the Aug. 3 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday
Anti-Trump protesters hold signs outside the makeshift memorial to the victims of the WalMart shooting that left a total of 22 people dead, in El Paso. The presidential motorcade arrived at the hospital under tight security
Some Democrats and residents of El Paso say Trump’s fiery rhetoric has fostered the kind of anti-immigrant hatred that could have contributed to Saturday’s attack
Democrats say Trump’s own anti-immigrant, racially charged language at rallies and on Twitter has done much to fan racist, white nationalist sentiments, creating a political climate more conducive to hate-based violence.
U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose congressional district includes El Paso, declared that Trump ‘is not welcome here.’
Trump staged his first political rally of 2019 in El Paso in February.
She said on Twitter on Tuesday she declined a White House invitation to join Trump in El Paso after being told he was too busy to speak with her by phone in advance. ‘I refuse to be an accessory to his visit,’ Escobar later told CNN.
Former Texas congressman and El Paso native Beto O’Rourke, who is seeking the 2020 Democratic nomination for president, said Trump ‘helped create the hatred that made Saturday’s tragedy possible’ and thus ‘has no place here.’
In an apparent answer to his criticism, Trump said on Twitter late on Tuesday O’Rourke ‘should respect the victims & law enforcement – & be quiet!’
Not everyone agreed that Trump should stay away.
Trump supporters march through a group of protesters protesting gun violence and the visit of Donald Trump
Demonstrators and counter demonstrators protest during the visit of US President Donald Trump to the site of the mass shooting
Supporters of President Donald Trump demonstrate in the Oregon District, where a mass shooting early Sunday morning left nine dead and 27 wounded
Trump visited Dayton to offer his support to the community but did not go into the Oregon District where the shooting occurred
Police separate pro and anti-Trump demonstrators in the Oregon District of Dayton
Police direct a Trump supporter driving an RV emblazoned with Trump flags at the site of Sunday morning’s shooting
US President Donald Trump, with US First Lady Melania Trump, boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland
‘This is not a political visit,’ El Paso Mayor Dee Margo told reporters. ‘He is president of the United States. So in that capacity, I will fulfill my obligations as mayor of El Paso to meet with the president and discuss whatever our needs are in this community.’
Pro-Trump residents also came out in Dayton and were pictured yelling in the faces of protesters.
Signs in El Paso reflected the same feeling in Dayton.
Trump had said before boarding his flight that his ‘critics are political people’. Trump claimed suggested the man responsible for the Dayton shootings was supportive of Democrats.
But some 85% of U.S. adults believe the tone and nature of political debate has become more negative, with a majority saying Trump has changed things for the worse, according to recent Pew Research Center polling.
And more than three quarters, 78%, say that elected officials who use heated or aggressive language to talk about certain people or groups make violence against those people more likely.
He denied his rhetoric had anything to do with the violence, claiming instead that he ‘brings people together. Our country is doing incredibly well.’
The leader said it ‘had nothing to do with President Trump’. He added about those who had criticized his style of leadership: ‘So these are people that are looking for political gain.
Senator Sherrod Brown and Mayor Nan Whaley hold a press conference after President Donald Trump visit to Dayton, Ohio