President-elect Donald Trump was harshly criticized after he used the deadly attack on New Year's Eve in New Orleans to call out Democrats and the media in an anti-immigrant rant, despite the suspect reportedly being a U.S. citizen.
The FBI confirmed that the suspect in the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans acted alone, labeling the tragic event “an act of terrorism.” The attack claimed 14 lives and left dozens injured when the perpetrator drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street.
The suspect, an Army veteran from Texas, was killed during a firefight with police following the attack. Authorities revealed that an ISIS flag was found in his vehicle and that he had recorded videos before the incident claiming allegiance to the terror group.
The suspect happens to have an Arab name—but it's a fact that the suspect was not an immigrant but a born and bred American.
Nevertheless, Trump wrote:
“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true."
“The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.”
"The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”
You can see his post below.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Trump did not issue a correction to his statement and later followed up with another post targeting “OPEN BORDERS.” He accused U.S. law enforcement of dedicating “all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME,” instead of prioritizing the protection of Americans from “violent SCUM” that he claimed has infiltrated both the government and the nation.
You can see his post below.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
He later declared:
"TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!"
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
He was swiftly called out for in fact NOT being right.
The investigation into the attack is ongoing.
Two officials briefed on the investigation reported that law enforcement is reviewing videos made by the suspect while driving to Louisiana, in which he discussed his allegiance to ISIS.
Federal officials and local law enforcement agencies in New Orleans are investigating whether the suspect used a long-gun rifle and fired it into the crowd while running people over, according to three senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.
The incident is being treated as both a terrorist attack and a crime scene, federal and local officials confirmed.
In a stark contrast to Trump’s response, President Joe Biden reached out to Mayor LaToya Cantrell to offer support and released a statement expressing his condolences in which he said that "My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday."
@thepassingtramp/X
@BryceWayne10s/X
@PressSec/X
