On Oct. 31, a terrorist drove a truck down a New York bike path, killing eight and injuring 11.
Five days later on Nov. 5, a terrorist shot 26 people and injured dozens more in a Texas church.
Following both events, Trump expressed his grief and offered his condolences to the victims and their families. Although, there was a significant difference in his response, specifically, in what Trump said and what he didn’t say.
Within hours of the New York tragedy, Trump tweeted several times, calling for stricter immigration laws and implementing tougher vetting procedures. Yet, a day after the massacre in Texas, Trump said the shooting was not an issue of guns and offered no course of action whatsoever for Congress and how they’re going to deal with the issue.
One difference in the two tragedies is the race of the killer. In NYC, the man was Uzbekistani whereas in Texas, the man was Caucasian.
This seems typical of Trump. When the perpetrator of a hate crime is not American-born, Trump (and most of the media) harshly condemns them, labeling them as terrorists. Not only that, Trump tends to use the crime to criticize a whole nation of people and uses it as evidence for stricter immigration policy. However, when the killer is American-born, Trump usually focuses on prayers and calls it mental illness.
Another prominent distinction is the subject matter of the crime. With the New York attack, it was a foreign-born individual killing Americans with a vehicle. In Texas, it was an American killing Americans with guns. Both instances resulted in Americans killed, but Trump was much more critical of the situation where a gun was not present.
Trump offers no solutions when the crime is committed by guns for a multitude of reasons. He ran a pro-Second Amendment campaign and promised tougher laws on immigration and terrorists. To offer a solution to America’s gun problem would only upset his base, further lowering his already declining approval rating. Also, Trump and many GOP members are conveniently given millions of dollars by the NRA.
Trump knows that he can appease his base by promising restrictive immigration laws, but also by staying silent on gun control issues of any kind. With his base being his only supporters, Trump is desperately working to keep them satisfied. Ultimately, the American people lose as a whole when he fails to address situations equally. His reaction shows that he only cares for those who are invested in him. With intentions like that, the 59 percent of Americans who disapprove of him should truly consider who is here to care for them.
Hunter Graffice is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Did you notice the difference in reactions? Let Hunter know by dropping a tweet @HunterGraffice4.
