It almost couldn’t match the El Paso shooter’s “manifesto” more perfectly. For as much a Patrick Crusius’ online screed about a “Hispanic invasion” echoed phrasing you might hear at a Trump rally — “open borders,” “send them back” — Donald Trump’s response seems likewise to have mimicked the white supremacist domestic terrorist as well:
We cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, die in vain. Likewise for those so seriously wounded. We can never forget them, and those many who came before them. Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2019
….this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform. We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2019
Trump calls for immigration reform in response to a shooting where the killer was targeting immigrants and calling for immigration reform himself? What good, Mr. President, would immigration reform have done to prevent this tragedy? Given Crusius fewer targets?
No wall would have stopped this attack, because immigrants don’t carry out mass shootings. White males with easy, legal, instantaneous access to high-powered guns do.
But just to really drive home the point that he has no intention of talking about the prevalence of white supremacy in these killings, or to consider that public policy might be part of the problem, Trump took his mimicry of the shooter to another level — or perhaps the shooter was quoting Trump in advance:
The Media has a big responsibility to life and safety in our Country. Fake News has contributed greatly to the anger and rage that has built up over many years. News coverage has got to start being fair, balanced and unbiased, or these terrible problems will only get worse!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2019
This is the news, and there’s nothing fake about it — Trump and the El Paso shooter sound like they talked this all over in advance. Obviously they didn’t, but the similarities between what they say is more than creepy, it’s a sign that Trump himself is inspiring these attacks, just as the killer that Crusius praised in his manifesto, the New Zealand mosque shooter, said in his own manifesto.
Featured image via screen capture
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