November 1: On This Day In 2017
{Programming note: If you missed it yesterday, or if you had difficulty viewing its videos on your device, here's the link to our "Closing Argument" OTDI.}
Compare and contrast Trump’s response to these two horrific tragedies:
An American citizen with an arsenal of assault weapons shot and killed 58 people in Las Vegas. Trump blamed…mental instability: “The wires were crossed pretty badly in his brain. Extremely badly in his brain. And it’s a very sad event.”
An Uzbek citizen from the city of Tashkent, who had been in this country for seven years, killed 8 people in New York City. It was that city’s deadliest attack since 9/11. Whose fault was this, according to Trump? OTDI 2017, Trump blamed…The Democrats.
Trump added: “We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter). @foxandfriends”
Notice the difference in the ways Trump thinks about these events. In Trump’s mind, the white male American mass murderer is simply sick. But the foreign-born killer (who is Muslim) is a terrorist.
And Trump refuses to state the obvious: Perhaps the American killed more people than the Uzbek because he had suitcases full of machine guns. (The immigrant did not.) Perhaps it would be better if machine guns weren’t so readily available. Just a thought.
Btw, it's also important to note that Trump is basically wrong in pointing blame. Chuck Schumer, as a House member back in 1990, had been a sponsor of the bill under which the Uzbek shooter gained entry. But it was a bipartisan bill signed by a GOP president, Bush. Later Schumer worked, on a bipartisan basis, to terminate that visa program; but his team was blocked by the GOP-led House.
Perhaps it's even more important to note that immigrants generally commit violent crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans. Yes, this guy in NYC was an immigrant, but that doesn't mean it's the fault of the concept of immigration.
Dive Deeper
Although, to Trump's credit, he eventually attempted to address at least part of this cause by banning the type of bump stocks used by the American shooter. However, he was stymied by the very judges he had appointed.
(Btw, why is the GOP obsessed with intentionally butchering the name of the Democratic Party, as in the quote above? Doesn't that seem like something a 3rd grader would do? Although I guess when your party leader intentionally mispronounces Kamala's name, it frees up his followers to also sound stupid with other big words too.)
CNN details Trump’s explanation of the NYC attack
Democracy Forward notes that Trump has "systematically gutted existing (gun) laws in ways that make kids and communities less safe."
NPR chronicles the guilty verdict in NYC
NPR also had the fact-checking on Trump's lie
Immigrant crime analysis in the AJC.
Pic: AP
On This Day In The Trump Administration: Trump responds to mass murders in Vegas and NYC