President Donald Trump has announced that he will travel on Wednesday to the scenes of the two weekend mass shootings, defying backlash by some in both communities who have urged him not to come.
Trump had been widely expected to pay visits to El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, at some point this week after the Federal Aviation Administration issued travel advisories for both areas. But his plans have prompted backlash from within some of the communities, especially in El Paso, where the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has been blamed by many for potentially motivating the suspected shooter.
Many grieving residents in the two cities hold him responsible for inflaming the country’s racial divisions.
A man holds a rosary at the site of a shooting in the Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio, USA. EPA-EFE/DAVID KOHL
The Democratic mayor of Dayton, Nan Whaley, said on Tuesday that she had been “disappointed” with Trump’s remarks the day before about the two massacres, which left a combined 31 people dead. In a brief speech, Trump denounced white nationalism and called for more action to address mental illness and to combat online hate but endorsed only minimal new gun control measures.
Still, Whaley said, she would respectfully welcome the nation’s elected leader to her city.
When Trump arrives in El Paso, it will be “the office of the president” that the city is welcoming, Margo said this week.
That was part of the mayor’s unenthusiastic confirmation to reporters this week that he will meet with Trump in his “official capacity” as a “formal duty” — even as he noted that he’ll also “continue to challenge any harmful and inaccurate statements made about El Paso.”
“We will not allow anyone to portray El Paso in a manner that is not consistent with our history and values,” Margo added.
The White House so far hasn’t said much about what Trump plans to do in each city or what his schedule on Wednesday will be. Kellyanne Conway told reporters that the trip will be similar to previous ones the president has made “trying to help heal communities, meeting with those who are injured, those loved ones who have survived the innocents who have lost their lives so senselessly and tragically. … He meets with local law enforcement, federal law enforcement. He meets with medical professionals. He thanks first responders.”
