Trump rails that ‘fake news’ ignores Dayton shooter’s politics compared to El Paso

Donald Trump and First Lady Melania quickly left Dayton for El Paso on Wednesday after visiting privately for two hours with hospitalized shootings victims. 

The president made no public remarks in Ohio, where the community was mourning the nine victims of Connor Betts, after unleashing on ‘fake news’ at the White House and claiming the murderer’s left-wing sympathies were being ignored. And he left without paying his respects to the dead at Sunday’s shooting site.

There were protests on part of the president and first lady’s motorcade route to downtown Dayton, but they were welcomed at Wright-Patterson Air Force base by city mayor Nan Whaley, who had been sharply critical of Trump in the wake of the massacre.   

Their arrival at Miami Valley Hospital was decidedly lukewarm – more than an hundred demonstrators were gathered outside the treatment center. 

Cameras were not allowed inside, but Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown acknowledged at a presser after the couple left that Trump was well-received by hospital patients. 

‘He was comforting and did the right things and Melania did the right things,’ Brown said.

White House officials said the Trumps had ‘truly special moments’ with the patients they met and shared ‘very powerful moments’ with them. Press secretary Stephanie Grisham said that Trump told one of the families: ‘You had God watching. I want you to know we’re with you all the way.’

Trump’s visit was intended to thank first responders to the mass shooting and comfort the bereaved and victims. 

It came before he was due to fly to El Paso with Melania, where former local congressman turned presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke had told him to ‘stay away,’ saying his ‘racist’ rhetoric inflamed the killer.

Before he left the White House, Trump hit out at what he claimed was an attempt to ignore 24-year-old Betts’ left-wing views, saying: ‘He was a fan of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, nothing to do with Trump, but nobody ever mentions that.’

Speaking on the South Lawn to reporters, the president also appeared to give his backing to tougher background checks before people can buy guns and suggested he would force Republicans to follow his lead.

The party’s senators had appeared to be getting behind a more limited ‘red flags’ law, which would keep guns from dangerous people but Trump said: ‘I’m looking to do background checks. I think background checks are important.’

The trip to Dayton and El Paso represents a major test of Trump’s public determination to bring unity in the wake of the mass shootings.

Donald Trump and First Lady Melania touched down in Dayton Wednesday to mourn the nine victims of Connor Betts – after the president unleashed on ‘fake news,’ claiming the murderer’s left-wing sympathies were being ignored

A demonstrator mocks Trump's claim in a national address that the shooting took place in Toledo. It was Dayton that was hit

A demonstrator mocks Trump’s claim in a national address that the shooting took place in Toledo. It was Dayton that was hit

Demonstrators gather to protest the arrival of President Donald Trump outside Miami Valley Hospital after a mass shooting that occurred in the area early Sunday morning. A Trump blip looms in the background

Demonstrators gather to protest the arrival of President Donald Trump outside Miami Valley Hospital after a mass shooting that occurred in the area early Sunday morning. A Trump blip looms in the background

Protesters held up signs demanding that Trump take action to end gun violence and protect kids from mass shooters

Protesters held up signs demanding that Trump take action to end gun violence and protect kids from mass shooters

Demonstrators also gathered outside of the Dayton City Hall. Nine people were killed and another 27 injured when a gunman identified as 24-year-old Connor Betts opened fire with a AR-15 style rifle in a popular entertainment district

Demonstrators also gathered outside of the Dayton City Hall. Nine people were killed and another 27 injured when a gunman identified as 24-year-old Connor Betts opened fire with a AR-15 style rifle in a popular entertainment district

TEPID GREETING: At the airport, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley shook the president's hand on the tarmac at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

TEPID GREETING: At the airport, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley shook the president’s hand on the tarmac at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown - a Democrat who said he wouldn't meet with Trump over 'racist rhetoric' but apparently changed his mind - was also there to greet him

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown – a Democrat who said he wouldn’t meet with Trump over ‘racist rhetoric’ but apparently changed his mind – was also there to greet him

She welcomed to her city on Wednesday anyway, greeting him at the airport

Whaley was also critical of Trump, saying his post-shooting remarks that barely mentioned firearms were ‘painful’ and ‘disappointing, but she’d welcome him to her city, anyway

Democrats have accused his rhetoric on immigration of being part of the reason for the rise of white supremacist domestic terrorism and pointed to similarities between the ‘manifesto’ left by Walmart murderer Patrick Crusius, which spoke of ‘invasion’ by Hispanics, and the president’s own speeches.  

At the airport, Whaley shook the president’s hand on the tarmac alongside Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown – a Democrat who said he wouldn’t meet with Trump over ‘racist rhetoric’ but apparently changed his mind.

Whaley was also critical of Trump, saying his post-shooting remarks that barely mentioned firearms were ‘painful’ and ‘disappointing, but she’d meet with him in Ohio, anyway. The Democrat said she hoped Trump’s trip would ‘add value’ to Dayton and he’d clarify his position on gun control. 

Ahead of his Wednesday trip he said he supported stricter background checks for the mentally ill and claimed Dayton mass shooter ‘supported’ the left-wing politicians who are competing for the presidency while deflecting from charges that his own, fiery rhetoric encouraged an El Paso mass murderer.

‘If you look at Dayton that was a person who supported, I guess you would say, Bernie Sanders I understood, Antifa I understood, Elizabeth Warren I understood. Had nothing to do with President Trump,’ he argued on the South Lawn of the White House as he prepared to leave for the Ohio city. 

Trump claimed that Sanders, Warren and other unnamed Democrats who are ‘low in the polls’ were trying to score political points by calling him a racist and associating him with mentally-ill shooters.

‘These are people that are looking for political gain. I don’t think they’re getting it, and as much as possible I’ve tried to stay out of that,’ he claimed seconds after he levied the searing attack in which he’d bashed Warren and Sanders by name. 

He said minutes later, ‘I would like to stay out of the political fray. As I was saying and just came out, the Dayton situation, he was a fan of ANITFA. He was a fan of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Nothing to do with Trump, but nobody ever mentions that. No, I don’t blame Elizabeth Warren and I don’t blame Bernie Sanders in the case of Ohio.’  

Solidarity show: Donald Trump took off for Dayton, Ohio, where he will mourn the dead with first lady Melania before heading to El Paso, Texas

Solidarity show: Donald Trump took off for Dayton, Ohio, where he will mourn the dead with first lady Melania before heading to El Paso, Texas 

Lashing out: Donald Trump spoke on the South Lawn of the White House before taking off for Dayton, saying that shooter Connor Betts' support for 'Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren' was being ignored

Lashing out: Donald Trump spoke on the South Lawn of the White House before taking off for Dayton, saying that shooter Connor Betts’ support for ‘Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren’ was being ignored

Grievance: 'He was a fan of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Nothing to do with Trump, but nobody ever mentions that. No, I don't blame Elizabeth Warren and I don't blame Bernie Sanders in the case of Ohio,' Trump said before heading to Dayton, Ohio

Grievance: ‘He was a fan of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Nothing to do with Trump, but nobody ever mentions that. No, I don’t blame Elizabeth Warren and I don’t blame Bernie Sanders in the case of Ohio,’ Trump said before heading to Dayton, Ohio

First couple: Donald and Melania Trump left the White House on Marine One for trips to the two cities hit by mass shootings this weekend

First couple: Donald and Melania Trump left the White House on Marine One for trips to the two cities hit by mass shootings this weekend

Donald Trump, ahead of his trip to Dayton, Ohio, tried to link the mass shooter to liberal presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren

Donald Trump, ahead of his trip to Dayton, Ohio, tried to link the mass shooter to liberal presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren

Bernie Sanders

A Twitter account believed to be owned by Connor Betts – the suspect in Sunday’s shooting – had supportive messages for Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders but no motive has been established

A suspected killer in El Paso echoed claims that Trump has made about illegal immigrants and Democrats had attacked the Republican president for waiting too long to condemn him as a white nationalist.   

Trump denied Wednesday that he was inspiring killers, however, saying to reporters, ‘I think my rhetoric is a very, it brings people together. Our country is doing incredibly well.’ 

‘I am concerned about the rise of any group of hate. I don’t like it. Any group of hate, whether it’s white supremacy, whether it’s any other kind of supremacy, whether it’s Antifa, whether it’s any group of hate, I am very concerned about it and I’ll do something about it,’ he said after a reporter asked him about white nationalism.

Trump later slapped Joe Biden, who’d compared him segregationist George Wallace, as ‘incompetent’ and having lost his mental edge.

‘Well, you know Joe is a pretty incompetent guy. I’ve watched his interviews, I’ve watched what he said and how he said it, and I wouldn’t have rated him very high in the first place, but Joe Biden has truly lost his fastball, that I can tell you,’ he said of the Democrat, who’s a mere three years older than him.

The president also took a slap at Whaley, as he prepared to visit her city.  

Whaley had disapproved of a national address Trump delivered, in which he’d bungled the name of her grieving Ohio city. He said the shooting had taken place in Toledo and not Dayton as he concluded his statement.

‘I’m disappointed with his remarks. He mentioned gun issues one time. I think watching the president over the last few years on the issue of guns, I’m not sure he knows what he believes,’ Whaley said. 

Asked about the tone of his comments, and whether he among the people that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said need to be more sensitive, he said, ‘Well, I do agree but I think we have toned it down. We’ve been getting hit left and right from everybody.

‘Many of the people, I don’t know, a couple of people from Texas, political people from Texas that aren’t doing very well. I guess somebody said the mayor, I had one very nice conversation with the mayor of Dayton, could not have been nicer. And then she goes and says ‘I tried to call.’

He said, ‘I spoke to her, and I didn’t receive any call. So they’re trying to make political points.’

A photo of victim Jorge Calvillo García, a Mexican national, rests on flowers at a makeshift memorial honoring victims outside Walmart, near the scene of a mass shooting which left at least 22 people dead, in El Paso, Texas

A photo of victim Jorge Calvillo García, a Mexican national, rests on flowers at a makeshift memorial honoring victims outside Walmart, near the scene of a mass shooting which left at least 22 people dead, in El Paso, Texas

Candles are lit at a makeshift memorial honoring on Aug. 7 victims outside Walmart, near the scene of a mass shooting which left at least 22 people dead

Candles are lit at a makeshift memorial honoring on Aug. 7 victims outside Walmart, near the scene of a mass shooting which left at least 22 people dead

Trump said he’s in talks with Capitol Hill leadership to craft legislation that would curb future attacks, bringing up a desire to pass stricter background checks for gun sales – a proposal he’s yo-yo’d on repeatedly since he took office.

‘I’m looking to do background checks. I think background checks are important. I don’t want to put guns into the hands of mentally unstable people or people with rage or hate, sick people. I don’t want to — I’m all in favor of it,’ he said.

The president said he’d be willing to haul lawmakers back to Washington for an emergency session, if he thought the two sides were close to reaching an agreement. 

‘Well, we’re going to see where we are. We’re dealing with leadership right now. And, you know, you have two sides that are very different on this issue, and, let’s say, all good people,’ he said. ‘But two sides that are very different. If we get close, I will bring them back. But it has to be — you know, we have to see where we are with leadership.’ 

He added, ‘And I think we can bring up background checks like we’ve never had before. I think both Republican and Democrat are getting close to a bill on — they’re doing something on background checks.’

He said he could not see a bill banning assault rifles, a type of high-capacity firearms, passing Congress, citing public polling on the topic.

‘I can tell you that there is no political appetite for that at this moment. If you look at the — you could speak, you could do your own polling. And there’s no political appetite, probably, from the standpoint of legislature,’ he said.

An October 2018 Gallup poll showed more people against an assault rifle ban – 57 per cent – than were for it – 40 per cent – matching a pattern of surveys over the last decade showing most Americans want to protect their access to the firearm.

The same survey found that six in 10 Americans believe that Congress pass additional gun control measures, although further questioning reveals a schism on what the public believes should be in prospective legislation.

Trump said Wednesday that a ban on large-capacity magazines was unlikely to make it through Congress.

‘I mean, I can only do what I can do,’ he said. ‘I think there’s a great appetite to do something with regard to making sure that mentally unstable, seriously ill people aren’t carrying guns. And I’ve never seen the appetite as strong as it is now. I have not seen it with regard to certain types of weapons,’ he added.

The evening before, he’d drilled into Robert ‘Beto’ O’Rourke, the Texas politician who called him a racist, on the eve of a visit to the El Paso native’s hometown, suggesting the Democrat made up his nickname to win votes from Hispanics.  

In the late-night tweet, the president boasted that he’d ‘trounced’ the low-polling 2020 presidential candidate the last time they were on a ballot together and told him to ‘be quiet.’

‘Beto (phony name to indicate Hispanic heritage) O’Rourke, who is embarrassed by my last visit to the Great State of Texas, where I trounced him, and is now even more embarrassed by polling at 1% in the Democrat Primary, should respect the victims & law enforcement – & be quiet!” the president write.

O’Rourke slapped back, saying, ’22 people in my hometown are dead after an act of terror inspired by your racism. El Paso will not be quiet and neither will I.’    

One of the first Democratic presidential candidates to speak out against Trump after the shootings, O’Rourke on Sunday said his anti-illegal immigrant rhetoric was inspiring hateful acts, like the massacre in El Paso the day before.  

‘We have a problem with white nationalist terrorism in the United States of America today,’ O’Rourke said. ‘These are white men motivated by the kind of fear that this president traffics.’

He added, ‘So again, let’s be very clear about what is causing this and what the president is: he is an open, avowed racist and is encouraging more racism in this country.’

Trump also touted those ties in a tweet ahead of his visit to the city to comfort victims, citing a report from One America News Network, a right-wing TV station. 

”The Dayton, Ohio, shooter had a history of supporting political figures like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and ANTIFA.’ @OANN I hope other news outlets will report this as opposed to Fake News. Thank you!,’ the president wrote.

The welcome Trump will get in the two cities where a total of 31 people died was unclear. 

The Democratic mayor of Dayton said she would meet him because of the office he holds, while in El Paso, O’Rourke, told Trump to stay away.  Whaley and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown were on the tarmac to greet Trump. 

Police on both cities are already stretched dealing with the aftermath of the shootings, and in the case of El Paso, a full criminal investigation into the shooter, Patrick Crusius, who surrendered after his murder spree. 

No motive has been established behind the shooting in Dayton, unlike Friday’s incident in El Paso, Texas, where the suspect left behind a 2,300-word manifesto that raged about the ‘Hispanic invasion of Texas,’ posted online minutes before the shooting began on Saturday at a Wal-Mart in the Southern border city.

White House officials also pushed the ties between Betts and liberals as they defended the president from Democrats’ charges it was his rhetoric that inflamed racial tensions in the country.

‘We do not blame, nor do we even dream of blaming Elizabeth Warren for the shooter in Ohio who wanted to vote for her,’ White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said on Fox News Tuesday, questioning why Trump was being criticized. 

‘I’m hopping mad this morning because I see very little scant coverage of the fact that the Dayton shooter has been confirmed as having a Twitter feed that was supportive of Antifa, that was supportive of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders,’ White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News Tuesday morning.

Warren’s campaign called the attempt to link Betts to her campaign a distraction. 

‘There is absolutely no place for violence in our politics and Elizabeth and our campaign condemn it in the strongest possible terms,’ Warren campaign spokesperson Kristen Orthman said in a statement to The Hill on Tuesday. 

‘Leaders have a responsibility to speak out and to not incite violence. But let’s be clear – there is a direct line between the president’s rhetoric and the stated motivations of the El Paso shooter. 

‘This is an attempt to distract from the fact that Trump’s rhetoric is inciting violence as extremist-related murders have spiked 35 percent from 2017 to 2018,’ she added.

Betts, who was shot and killed by police, was armed with a .223-caliber ‘long gun,’ high-capacity magazines, and extra ammunition in Sunday’s mass shooting.

The attack lasted less than a minute outside a bar in a popular neighborhood in the city. 

Authorities have named no motive behind suspect Connor Betts

Authorities have named no motive behind suspect Connor Betts

Chilling footage shows Ohio gunman inside Blind Bob's bar before he opened fire and killed nine people including his sister outside Ned Peppers Bar on Saturday night

Chilling footage shows Ohio gunman inside Blind Bob’s bar before he opened fire and killed nine people including his sister outside Ned Peppers Bar on Saturday night 

His social media posts often showed support for Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren. In one tweet (above) he said he would vote for Warren over Kamala Harris because the latter 'is a cop'

His social media posts often showed support for Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren. In one tweet (above) he said he would vote for Warren over Kamala Harris because the latter ‘is a cop’

Before being removed, the account's bio read: 'he/him / anime fan / metalhead / leftist / I'm going to hell and I'm not coming back'

Before being removed, the account’s bio read: ‘he/him / anime fan / metalhead / leftist / I’m going to hell and I’m not coming back’

Last tweet: The account has now been suspended but on Saturday retweeted a message calling on the 'Joe Biden generation' to 'hurry up and die'

Last tweet: The account has now been suspended but on Saturday retweeted a message calling on the ‘Joe Biden generation’ to ‘hurry up and die’ 

Democrat: Shortly before the 2018 midterm elections the account urged its followers to 'vote blue' to defeat Republican candidates

Democrat: Shortly before the 2018 midterm elections the account urged its followers to ‘vote blue’ to defeat Republican candidates

Support: The account had also retweeted Vermont Senator and leftist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Support: The account had also retweeted Vermont Senator and leftist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Former classmates of Betts said he kept a ‘hit list’ of people he wanted to kill or rape. 

Authorities are investigating a motive.

Trump, meanwhile, has come under attack from Democrats, who say his anti-immigrant language on the stump has sparked a rise in white supremacy.

‘In both clear language and in code, this president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation,’ Joe Biden will say at a campaign event in Iowa later Wednesday, according to excerpts released from his campaign.

Beto O’Rourke, who represented El Paso in Congress, said America under Trump was like Nazi Germany.

‘The only modern western Democracy that I can think of that said anything close to this is the Third Reich, Nazi Germany,’ he said Monday on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe.’ 

Joe Biden will accuse the president of fanning 'the flames of white supremacy in this nation' in a speech in Iowa on Wednesday

Joe Biden will accuse the president of fanning ‘the flames of white supremacy in this nation’ in a speech in Iowa on Wednesday

And Nan Whaley, the Democratic mayor of Dayton, Ohio, said she will tell the president directly that he has been unhelpful in responding to the two mass shootings. 

‘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.’

Trump on Monday blamed the internet, social media, computer games and ‘mental illness’ for the two mass shootings that killed 31 people this past weekend.  

‘Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,’ he said. 

‘I almost got a good headline!’ President Trump reacts after liberal outrage led New York Times to CHANGE its front-page headline that praised his ‘unity message’ after shootings

President Donald Trump complained Wednesday after The New York Times changed a positive Page One headline about Monday’s speech following a pair of mass-shootings.

The switch was made to accommodate outraged reporters and Twitter pundits who objected to its cast of Trump’s speech in a flattering light.

”Trump Urges Unity Vs. Racism,’ was the correct description in the first headline by the Failing New York Times, but it was quickly changed to, ‘Assailing Hate But Not Guns,’ after the Radical Left Democrats went absolutely CRAZY!’ the president tweeted.

‘Fake News – That’s what we’re up against,’ he jabbed, adding: ‘After 3 years I almost got a good headline from the Times!’

The two versions of Tuesday's New York Times front page are shown here, with the headline changing to reflect outrage amont liberal partisans on Twitter and reporters in the paper's newsroom
The two versions of Tuesday's New York Times front page are shown here, with the headline changing to reflect outrage amont liberal partisans on Twitter and reporters in the paper's newsroom

The two versions of Tuesday’s New York Times front page are shown here, with the headline changing to reflect outrage amont liberal partisans on Twitter and reporters in the paper’s newsroom

Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet told the influential Columbia Journalism Review that the original headline wasn’t an effort to arrive at a result that ‘mollified Donald Trump.’

He also distanced himself from the decision to run it in the paper’s first print edition. The second edition carried the changed headline.

The first was factually accurate and reflected the story’s opening. 

The president said Monday that Americans should ‘set destructive partisanship aside’ find ‘the courage to answer hatred with unity, devotion, and love.’

Trump also quoted longtime former Bill Clinton pollster Mark Penn in a tweet Wednesday morning, saying: ‘This is an astounding development in journalism. I’ve never seen it happen before, I’ve just never seen anything like this! Is that journalism today? I don’t think so.’ 

Penn appeared Tuesday night on Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson’s program, which Trump watches regularly.

‘It took The New York Times, a daily newspaper published in New York City, less than a day to end a bold new experiment yesterday running an objective headline,’ Carlson said. 

Trump was responding in Monday’s speech to Saturday’s shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, which left 41 people dead.

He has drawn unusually intense criticism among liberal partisans for his past rhetoric condemning Central American drug gangsters and other illegal immigrants.

Sunday’s first shooter was a white supremacist who believed he was exacting vengeance against Mexicans for an ‘invasion’ of Texas, according to a four-page manifesto he published before his killing spree.

The Dayton gunman, however, appeared to have been a political liberal, expressing admiration for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and advocating for a universal taxpayer-funded minimum income for all Americans.

The president is visiting the two cities on Wednesday amid complaints from Democrats in both places that his appearance will be divisive. Many have claimed he is himself a white supremacist. 

Prepared remarks for a Wednesday afternoon speech have former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic front-runner, claiming Trump ‘has aligned himself with the darkest forces in this nation.’

‘In both clear language and in code, this president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation.: 

One MSNBC anchor, Nicolle Wallace, apologized Tuesday night after saying on the air that Trump’s rhetoric could lead to the ‘extermination” of Hispanics in the U.S. 

Former Times political statistician Nete Silver sparked a social media firestorm Monday night by posting an image of the coming front page and opining, ‘Not sure ‘TRUMP URGES UNITY VS. RACISM’ is how I would have framed the story.’

An hour later New York Magazine writer Yashar Ali, whose Twitter audience includes 434,000 people, wrote that he had ‘have never received more texts from furious NYT reporters/writers than I have tonight.’

The president said Monday that Americans should 'set destructive partisanship aside' find 'the courage to answer hatred with unity, devotion, and love'

The president said Monday that Americans should ‘set destructive partisanship aside’ find ‘the courage to answer hatred with unity, devotion, and love’

Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson mocked the Times Tuesday night, in a monologue that Trump likely watched, for 'end[ing] a bold new experiment yesterday running an objective headline'

Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson mocked the Times Tuesday night, in a monologue that Trump likely watched, for ‘end[ing] a bold new experiment yesterday running an objective headline’

Trump also quoted longtime former Bill Clinton pollster Mark Penn, who appeared on Carlson's show, saying: 'I’ve just never seen anything like this! Is that journalism today? I don’t think so'

Trump also quoted longtime former Bill Clinton pollster Mark Penn, who appeared on Carlson’s show, saying: ‘I’ve just never seen anything like this! Is that journalism today? I don’t think so’

‘They feel like their hard work is being sullied by a horrible headline. And they’re all blaming Dean Baquet.’

That characterization implies that the mood in the newsroom was critical of Trump to a degree that underscoring his call for national ‘unity’ in a headline wouldn’t permit.

The president has long been critical of the Times, calling it a ‘fake news’ outlet and a ‘failing’ newspaper.

He has predicted that unless he is elected to a second controversy-filled term in the White House the Times and other news outlets that routinely criticize him will ‘go out of business’ for lack of a piñata to swing at daily.

A Columbia Journalism Review writer summed up much of institutional journalism’s verdict on Tuesday, calling Trump’s Monday speech ‘ludicrous.’

‘Trump invoked ‘unity, devotion, and love,’ concepts about which he demonstrates no knowledge. He failed to address the El Paso shooter’s online screed, which contained clear echoes of Trump’s racist rhetoric,’ wote Jon Allsop.  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk