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- President Donald Trump leveled a baseless attack against Ohio officials after traveling to Dayton, Ohio to visit the survivors of a deadly mass shooting.
- He accused "failed Presidential Candidate (0%) Sherrod Brown" and Mayor Nan Whaley of "totally misrepresenting what took place inside of the hospital" where he went to visit victims.
- It wasn’t clear what exact remarks Trump was referring to. Whaley did not contradict Trump’s version of events of his hospital visit, only saying, "I think the victims and first responders were grateful that the President of the United States came to Dayton."
- Brown, the senator who Trump called "a failed presidential candidate," has also never run for president before.
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President Donald Trump leveled a baseless attack against Ohio officials after traveling to Dayton, Ohio to visit the survivors of a deadly mass shooting that killed nine people and injured 27 on Sunday.
On his way to El Paso, Texas to visit the survivors of another mass shooting, Trump tweeted, "Just left Dayton, Ohio, where I met with the Victims & families, Law Enforcement, Medical Staff & First Responders. It was a warm & wonderful visit. Tremendous enthusiasm & even Love."
But Trump then blasted Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Dayton’s Mayor Nan Whaley over a press conference they gave shortly after Trump’s visit.
He accused "failed Presidential Candidate (0%) Sherrod Brown & Mayor Whaley" of "totally misrepresenting what took place inside of the hospital. Their news conference after I left for El Paso was a fraud. It bore no resemblance to what took place with those incredible people that I was so lucky to meet and spend time with."
Earlier in the day, White House social media Dan Scavino had tweeted that Trump had been treated like "a rock star" at the hospital, and insulted Brown and Whaley as "disgraceful politicians, doing nothing but politicizing a mass shooting."
It wasn’t immediately clear what specific remarks in their press conference Trump or Scavino were referring to.
While Whaley did say Trump’s general rhetoric was "divisive" and "not what people needed," Brown and Whaley said they only briefly met Trump after he landed in Ohio, and did not accompany him to the hospital or contradict his version of what happened there.
"I think the victims and the first responders were grateful that the president of the United States came to Dayton. I want to thank Senator Brown for coming here, too," Whaley said at the press conference when asked if she thought Trump’s visit "helped the healing" process.
On Twitter, Whaley said she was "not sure what the President thinks @SenSherrodBrown and I misrepresented."
Brown, the senator who Trump called "a failed presidential candidate," has also never run for president before. While he was floated as a possible 2020 Democratic primary contender, he ruled out a presidential run to stay in the Senate in March.
Read more:
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See Also:
- While Trump visited Dayton, the city’s mayor said the president’s ‘divisive’ rhetoric is ‘last thing we need’ after a mass shooting
- Obama faced relentless opposition to gun reform, even after a shooting that left 20 children dead
- Trump incorrectly blamed mental illness for mass shootings, but blocked a rule that would have made it harder for some people with mental illnesses to buy guns
Source: Business Insider – gpanetta@businessinsider.com (Grace Panetta)