Dayton, Ohio, Mayor Nan Whaley said she was confused by a tweet by President Trump attacking her over a news conference she held with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown following his visit to the city.
Trump had visited a hospital to meet with patients of the past weekendâs shooting that killed nine and wounded many more. He also met with members of the Dayton Police Department, which was able to engage and kill the shooter less than a minute after the gunfire began.
âJust left Dayton, Ohio, where I met with the Victims & families, Law Enforcement, Medical Staff & First Responders,” Trump tweeted. “It was a warm & wonderful visit. Tremendous enthusiasm & even Love. Then I saw failed Presidential Candidate (0%) Sherrod Brown & Mayor Whaley totally⦔
â⦠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. They were all amazing!â he said.
….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. They were all amazing!o
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2019
A reporter from the Cincinnati Enquirer was with Whaley as she read Trumpâs tweet for the first time. She seemed puzzled by the reaction and chalked it up to the presidentâs social media habits.
âWhere is it? I donât see it?â she said while looking at her phone at a restaurant and answering questions from reporters. âIâm confused. We said he was treated very well. I donât know what heâs talking about misrepresenting.â
âOh well. He lives in his world of Twitter,â Whaley added.
When the Mayor of Dayton first saw @realDonaldTrump tweet about her pic.twitter.com/Z8YdyeebXp
— Scott Wartman (@ScottWartman) August 7, 2019
During the press conference, Whaley said that she thinks âthe victims and the first responders were grateful that the president of the United States came to Dayton.â
âHe was received well by the patients, as you’d expect,â Brown said. âThey’re hurting. He was comforting and he did the right things. Melania did the right things. It’s his job, in part, to comfort people.â
âI’m glad he did it in those hospital rooms,â he added.
Despite the comments praising Trump for how he was received, during the conference Whaley did go after federal gun laws and predicted that there would be more mass shootings because of congressional inaction.
âToo often, we just see complete inaction because they are waiting for time for people to forget that nine people died in Dayton. Because of a gun that was too â that shouldnât be legal, frankly,â the mayor said.
âI pointed out to the president that â now-Governor, former Sen. Mike Dewayne voted for the assault weapons ban. There was a time when this was bipartisan. We are looking for those people in Congress to come together because the majority of Americans agree, so that this should be an action. Do I think that we will see another mass shooting tomorrow or Friday? Probably, because Washington will not move,â Whaley said.
She also said she thought it was a good decision for the president not to visit the area of Dayton, where the shooting took place.
âA lot of the time his talk can be very divisive, and thatâs the last thing we need in Dayton,â Whaley said.
