Just 48 hours after the worst mass shooting in American history, Donald Trump is starting to elaborate further on his thoughts. After making remarks about the incident to a group of reporters, it didn't take long for backlash to follow.
Trump on Vegas
It was late Sunday night when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of nearby Mesquite, Nevada opened fire from the 32nd floor of a Vegas hotel.
The targets were the thousands in attendance at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, which was finishing up their third and final day of the show just outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. As the police rushed to the scene and located the shooter, they made their way to his room but found Paddock had taken his own life before they could take further action. As of press time, 58 deaths have been reported, with over 500 left injured because of the shooting in question. In a tweet on Monday morning, President Donald Trump sent his "warmest regards" to those impacted, before quoting Bible verses during a speech at the White House.
As reported NBC News on October 3, Trump addressed the issue further before heading off to Puerto Rico.
As Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump headed to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the president met with reporters for a brief period and spoke about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. "Look, we had a tragedy," Trump said. "What happened is in many ways a miracle," he continued, before adding, "The police department has done an incredible job." The commander in chief was pressed on if he would take action on gun control, which he replied, "we'll be talking about gun laws as time goes by."
Donald Trump then spoke about the shooter himself, Stephen Paddock, describing him as "sick" and a "demented man." "We’re looking into him very seriously," he concluded.
Instant reaction
After Donald Trump's remarks about the Las Vegas shooting being a "miracle," social media went viral in opposition. "I genuinely hate everyone who voted for him," one Twitter user wrote.
"How in God's name, Donald Trump, can you say that the shooting in Las Vegas was a 'miracle'? What is miraculous about it?" another tweet wondered. "Donald Trump just called America's worst mass shooting 'in many ways a miracle' THIS CANT BE REAL," an additional tweet added.
"While the Fake News talks about the miracle of life, i your new prophet Donald Trump the large handed am here to preach the miracle of death,"yet another tweet noted. "It wasn’t a mass shooting, it wasn’t a terrorist attack, according to our PRESIDENT the one and only Donald Trump, it was a miracle," one tweet pointed out. As the backlash continued to pour in, the opposition to the president continued to grow.