On Tuesday, mere days after the horrendous and tragic shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue, which took the lives of 11 people and whose attack is believed to be motivated by antisemitism, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in Pittsburgh to meet with members of the community and pay their condolences.
A day later, the president tweeted a White House video showing the first couple along with daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner (both presidential advisors as well) talking with law enforcement officers and temple members.
The video was set to mournful music - a marked contrast against the signature tactlessness Trump displayed to accompany the tweet.
Rather than acknowledging the lives lost or that the perpetrator is believed to have acted on white nationalist principles shared and spread by many in Trump's administration, the president used the "very sad and solemn day" to take an all-too-familiar swipe at the media.
However, the media's coverage was widely accurate. The protest amassed a huge amount of people and took place only a block away from the synagogue.
Americans pointed this out.
Nor were they here for Donald Trump's self-absorption.
While the video may have attempted to paint Trump as presidential in the face of a national tragedy, it should be noted that many of those directly affected by the shooting did not want him there.
Lynette Lederman, a former president at the Tree of Life Synagogue, didn't mince words when it came to whether or not the Donald Trump was welcome in Pittsburgh:
"The hypocritical words that come from him tell me nothing. We have very, very strong leadership in this city. We have a very strong mayor with very strong values, a very strong county executive in Rich Fitzgerald. We have people who stand by us, who believed in values — not just Jewish values, but believe in values — and those are not the values of this President and I do not welcome him to Pittsburgh."
An open letter signed by 35,000 people said that the president wasn't welcome until he denounced white nationalism and changed his actions. Pittsburgh's mayor asked that Trump hold off on visiting until the victims were buried.
In addition, a presidential visit requires a huge amount of resources for security. Because this was a hate crime and with the possibility of copycat attacks at the funerals, many thought it was uncouth of Trump to take away resources that could've gone to citizens.
Twitter users pointed out that the president was not wanted there.
Many thought the video itself was in poor taste.
As Pittsburgh heals, it's unlikely that Americans can rely on comfort or leadership from this president during times when hatred seems to reign.
@reluctantmutant/X
@zdroberts/X
