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.