Trump swamped by protests at mass shooting sites

Donald Trump took time out from visiting the site of two deadly mass shootings to fire repeated attacks at a string of Democratic rivals.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he departs the White House in Washington, DC, on August 7 2019. Picture: Mandel Ngan / AFP.

Donald Trump was met with vocal protests as he visited the sites of deadly mass shootings in Ohio and Texas today, before unleashing on a number of Democratic rivals.

The US president spent the morning in Dayton, Ohio, where nine people were killed in a massacre at a bar on Sunday night, before flying to El Paso in Texas where 20 people died in a Walmart shooting on Saturday.

For most of the day, the president was kept out of view of reporters travelling with him, but the White House said he and First Lady Melania Trump met with hospital staff and first responders and spent time with wounded survivors and their families.

“Ban those guns” and “Do something!” were the rallying cries that met the couple when they touched down in Dayton.

Hundreds of critics gathered outside Miami Valley Hospital to demand action on gun control, with a number of placards directly blaming his constant inflammatory remarks for inciting hatred.

One poignant sign declaring: “Thick blood on your hands.”

Dayton’s mayor Nan Whaley said she planned to tell Mr Trump “how unhelpful he’s being”.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he departs the White House in Washington. Picture: Mandel Ngan

Demonstrators protest the visit of US President Donald Trump to the site of the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio. Picture: Megan Jelinger

The president spent part of his flight between Ohio and Texas airing his grievances on Twitter, berating former Vice President and Democratic nominee hopeful Joe Biden.

“Watching Sleepy Joe Biden making a speech. Sooo Boring!” he wrote.

“The LameStream Media will die in the ratings and clicks with this guy. It will be over for them, not to mention the fact that our Country will do poorly with him. It will be one big crash, but at least China will be happy!”

He then attacked other Democratic politicians in a tweet that began with remarks about visiting victims and families in Ohio.

“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. Then I saw failed Presidential Candidate (0%) Sherrod Brown & Mayor Whaley 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. They were all amazing!”

Nine people were killed on August 4 in Dayton, Ohio, which the president later mistakenly referred to as “Toledo”. Picture: Megan Jelinger / AFP.

The Trump baby blimp has become a regular feature at protests against the US administration. Picture: Megan Jelinger / AFP.

Mr Trump was met with more anger when he touched down in El Paso, where he met with city officials and more victims’ loved ones.

There were, however, other protesters expressing support for the Republican president, illustrating just how divided the country is ahead of next year’s elections.

And in El Paso, where more protests were expected later in the day, Raul Melendez, whose father-in-law, David Johnson, was killed in Saturday’s shooting, said the most appropriate thing Mr Trump could do was to meet with relatives of the victims.

“It shows that he actually cares, if he talks to individual families,” Mr Melendez said.

Demonstrators protest the visit of US President Donald Trump to the site of the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, on August 7, 2019. Picture: Megan Jelinger / AFP.

While still on the ground in El Paso, Mr Trump took to twitter again to attack another Democrat, who he labelled “the lesser brother of a failed presidential candidate”.

And while flying out, he tweeted two more attacks on the media and “totally disgusting” Democrats.

Beto O’Rourke spoke to several hundred people at a gathering in El Paso.

The former Texas Congressman, now a potential Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, has blistered Mr Trump as a racist instigator.

The El Paso gunman published a manifesto in which he echoed Mr Trump’s repeated use of the word “invasion” to describe illegal immigration.

Twenty two people were slain at the site, frequented by many Hispanic people.

Demonstrators hold a sign as the motorcade carrying President Donald Trump departs a joint operations center after meeting with first responders after the El Paso mass shooting. Picture: AP

Local Democratic congresswoman Veronica Escobar said she would not meet the president.

“From my perspective, he is not welcome here. He should not come here,” Ms Escobar told MSNBC.

Even the city’s Republican mayor offered only a grudging welcome, stressing icily that he would greet Mr Trump in his “official capacity.”

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio. Picture: Ty Greenlees/Dayton Daily News via AP.

President Donald Trump greets Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio. Picture: Ty Greenlees/Dayton Daily News via AP.

Counsellor to the President Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday morning that the president planned to meet with a number of people impacted by the twin shootings.

The first lady has often been at the president’s side when he’s had to step into the role of consoler-in-chief. She was with him and other administration officials in Pittsburgh in October on the heels of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, in which 11 were killed. A year before that she flew to Las Vegas with the president to attend to those wounded from the Las Vegas massacre, in which 58 victims were slaughtered.

Mr Trump is later set to visit the Hamptons for a fundraiser to help victims of the mass shootings.

“So he goes try to help heal communities, meeting with those who are injured, those loved ones who have survived, the innocents who have lost their lives so senselessly and tragically. He meets with local law enforcement, federal law enforcement. He meets with medical professionals. He thanks first responders,” Ms Conway told reporters on the White House driveway.

“So you see what he’s done in the past and you can expect that he will continue to do that as president.”

On Tuesday, Mr Trump said that Republicans and Democrats were “close” to agreeing on stronger background checks for people purchasing firearms — a measure opposed by gun rights lobbies.

“I think background checks are important. I don’t want to put guns into the hands of mentally unstable people or people with rage or hate,” he said.

But according to the president, “there is no political appetite” for banning military style assault weapons, which are widely available and are often chosen by mass killers.

— With wires

[e-mail] | @Megan_Palin