If President Trump threw away his phone and locked himself in the Oval Office until Election Day, he could probably win reelection by double digits. Despite his unwise trade war and selfish bullying of the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, tax reform and deregulation have contributed to real wage growth for the first time in years. People like Trump’s economy. But his persona often grates them, and his self-aggrandizing trip to El Paso exemplified the worst of his vices.
In the wake of the massacre that left dozens of Texans dead, Trump issued the categorical condemnation of white supremacy he should have delivered after the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville two years ago. Fairly or not, every point of Trump’s presidency has proven polarizing, but none more so than moments bringing Trump’s xenophobic (at best) rhetoric back in the spotlight. To say that he needs to be careful in moments like these is an understatement, and despite his wise words after the terrorist attack, Trump proved yet again that he’s his own worst enemy as he turned what should have been a solemn service for the dead into a garish and gross publicity stunt for his own reelection campaign.
We knew we were in for a doozy when the president retweeted his social media director’s grandstanding from Dayton, where another shooting had just taken place.
President @realDonaldTrump with the incredible medical staff at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio today. Some extremely powerful moments throughout the entire visit, with so much enthusiasm and love, contrary to what the Trump Hating Dems would ever share or say. pic.twitter.com/Wpvf2zPDRd
— Dan Scavino Jr.?? (@Scavino45) August 7, 2019
Then we knew that it would only get worse when we got this lighthearted video cut from footage of a hospital ward for victims.
My time spent in Dayton and El Paso with some of the greatest people on earth. Thank you for a job well done! pic.twitter.com/TNVDGhxOpo
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2019
But as someone who is shocked by very little anymore, absolutely nothing could have prepared me for a photo of Trump smiling and giving a thumbs-up while the first lady carries a baby left orphaned by the shooting just days prior.
From the First Lady’s twitter account, this appears to be the baby both of whose parents died shielding him from the El Paso shooter. The baby in question was discharged the day before and brought back for Trumps visit. Child is not id’d on @flotus account. But appears to… pic.twitter.com/17L6XQROMS
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 9, 2019
Contrary to Beltway belief, many Americans appreciate when Trump celebrates the military and allows celebratory spectacles of national pride. But not everything is a cause for positive press, and certainly not a visit to a hospital ward for victims of a white supremacist attack by a president who’s already under fire for his racial rhetoric.
Kellyanne Conway, Ivanka Trump, or whoever within walking distance of the West Wing is reading this: Please get your guy out of this news cycle and remind him that the nation is mourning a tragedy, not waiting for a campaign ad.
