Nan Whaley, the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, where the latest high-profile mass shooting took place after two others in quick succession during that same week, says that she needed extra security following Donald Trump’s antagonistic and untrue characterization of her on social media, according to the Dayton Daily News.
Despite a press conference in which Whaley and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown each praised the President’s eventual appearance in Ohio, saying that the victims and first responders appreciated Trump’s visit, the fact that they both urged him to sign meaningful gun law reform legislation is apparently what stuck in Trump’s mind, and he parlayed that slight back into his recollection of their press conference:
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…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2019
….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!o
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2019
Mayor Whaley later tweeted that she was baffled by the President’s response:
Not sure what the President thinks @SenSherrodBrown and I misrepresented. As we said, the victims and first responders were comforted by his presence. Let’s hope he’s not one of these all talk, no action politicians and actually does something on gun control. #DoSomething
— Nan Whaley (@nanwhaley) August 7, 2019
Later, in an appearance with cable news host Anderson Cooper, she said that it proved he was a “bully and a coward” whose primary concern was whether or not he was getting the proper respect:
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley calls President Trump “a bully and a coward” after he called her and Sen. Sherrod Brown “very dishonest people” over their characterization of his visit to a Dayton hospital. https://t.co/Ci7eAtJWRS pic.twitter.com/Eta60Q3NH7
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) August 8, 2019
After Trump’s tweets, Whaley got hundreds of threats and menacing messages by email, phone, and social media, with at least one warning her that “treason is death.”
Much like the President’s rhetoric inspired the El Paso shooter to go on a rampage, it looks as though Mayor Whaley may have narrowly escaped some crazed Trump supporter’s vengeance.
Featured image via screen capture
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