I’ll tell Trump to his face he’s NOT helping gun reform says mayor of Dayton as he plans to visit there and EL Paso on Wednesday after weekend’s mass shootings
- Dayton, Ohio’s Democrat Mayor Nan Whaley said she would tell Donald Trump when he visits he isn’t doing enough in the wake of two mass shootings
- She said his comments after the massacres, which claimed 31 lives, was not ‘helpful’
- She also said lawmakers in D.C. are ‘absolutely not’ doing enough to address gun control issues
- Trump announced he would visit Dayton and El Paso, Texas after shootings rocked the two U.S. cities
- Whaley and El Paso’s Republican Mayor Dee Margo said they would receive and speak with the president
- Former Texas representative Beto O’Rourke, who’s family still lives in El Paso, said the president has ‘no place here’
The Democratic mayor of Dayton, Ohio said she will directly tell Donald Trump that he has been unhelpful in responding to the two mass shootings that shook the nation over the weekend.
While speaking to reporters Tuesday, Mayor Nan Whaley said she would ‘absolutely’ tell the president to his face when he visits there that she doesn’t think he’s doing enough.
‘He probably will hear it from you all, better than he hears it from me,’ she said. ‘I mean, yesterday, his comments weren’t very helpful to the issue around guns.’
On Monday, Trump addressed the nation after two separate mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio resulted in 31 deaths and injured dozens of others.
During the remarks, the president called for ‘strong background checks,’ and condemned the hatred of the shooters.
Dayton, Ohio Mayor Nan Whaley said she would tell President Donald Trump to his face that she doesn’t believe he is doing enough to address gun violence issues in America
In the aftermath of two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio this weekend, the president will visit both cities this week and meet with first responders and some victims
A 21-year-old gunman killed 22 people in an El Paso Walmart and a 24-year-old gunman killed nine on a street in Dayton and injured dozens of others
He spoke publicly for the first time after the shootings on Sunday before boarding Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey for D.C., and blamed the massacres on mental illness.
Trump announced that he would be visiting Dayton and El Paso this week as the cities recover from the deadly events. He will meet with first responders, law enforcement and victims of the shootings.
When asked if he was visiting Ohio too soon after the shooting, Whaley said, ‘He’s the president of the United States. He does his calendar, I do mine.’
At a news conference later in the day Tuesday, Whaley mentioned the president’s visit again.
‘I will welcome him in the official capacity as mayor since he is in the office of the president,’ she said.
El Paso’s Republican Mayor Dee Margo said he would receive and welcome the president.
‘He is the President of the United States, so in that capacity I will fulfill my obligations as mayor of El Paso to meet with the president,’ Margo told reporters Monday.
Whaley, a Democrat, also said the federal government is ‘absolutely not’ doing enough to address the issue
Among news Trump was to visit both cities where the massacres occurred, former Representative Beto O’Rourke, who’s district included El Paso, said, ‘He has no place here’
Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, who represented El Paso and who’s family still lives there, said Trump has ‘no place’ there.
‘This president, who helped create the hatred that made Saturday’s tragedy possible, should not come to El Paso. We do not need more division. We need to heal. He has no place here,’ the 2020 Democratic primary candidate wrote.
O’Rourke, and several other Democrats running for president, said Trump’s rhetoric contributed to emboldening the shooters and called the president a ‘white nationalist.’
Since the shootings both Democrats and Republicans have been looking to address regulations and legislation regarding gun sales and the Second Amendment.
Whaley said the federal government is ‘absolutely not’ doing enough to address gun violence.
‘What do you see in D.C.? You see a lot of nothing happening on a lot of stuff,’ Whaley said. ‘Common sense gun reform is definitely an example where nothing’s happened.’