After 2 Mass Shootings, Trump Hides From View

His tweets oddly mix support for the grief-stricken and UFC fighter Colby Covington
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 4, 2019 3:00 PM CDT
After 2 Mass Shootings, Trump Hides From View
Eric Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr., right, wait for the start of a welterweight mixed martial arts bout between Colby Covington and Robbie Lawler at UFC Fight Night Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019, in Newark, NJ.   (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

As the nation reeled from two mass shootings in less than a day, President Donald Trump spent the first hours after the tragedies out of sight at his New Jersey golf course, sending out tweets of support awkwardly mixed in with those promoting a celebrity fight and attacking his political foes, the AP reports. Trump was to travel back to Washington later Sunday and aides said he would likely address reporters, but the nation did not glimpse the president in the immediate aftermath of a shooting in El Paso, Texas, that killed at least 20 people and, hours later, one in Dayton, Ohio, that claimed at least nine lives. Never seemingly comfortable consoling a nation in grief, Trump will be carefully watched for his response to the attacks, again inviting comparison to his predecessors who have tried to heal the country in moments of national trauma.

"The FBI, local and state law enforcement are working together in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio," Trump tweeted Sunday morning. "God bless the people of El Paso Texas. God bless the people of Dayton, Ohio." His first tweet after the El Paso shooting on Saturday hit similar notes, with Trump calling it "terrible" and promising the full support of the federal government. But just 14 minutes later, he tweeted again, a discordant post wishing UFC fighter Colby Covington, a Trump supporter, good luck in his fight that evening. That was soon followed up with a pair of retweets of African American supporters offering testimonials to Trump's policies helping black voters, though the president polls very poorly with blacks. Trump's two elder sons attended the UFC fight, while social media photos show that Trump stopped by a wedding at his Bedminster club on Saturday night.

(More President Trump stories.)

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