Following the worst mass shooting in American history, Donald Trump addressed the tragedy on his way to visit Puerto Rico. After referring to the shooting as a "miracle," Trump received massive backlash and was forced to clarify on social media.
Trump on Vegas shooting
Late Sunday night, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock locked himself in a room on the 32nd floor of a Vegas hotel. It was at this time when he unloaded hundreds of bullets down onto a crowd enjoying the Route 91 Harvest Festival near the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. By the time law enforcement made their way to the scene, Paddock had killed himself, before not before ending the lives of nearly 60 innocent civilians and injuring more than 500.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the debate over the gun control was quickly brought up, as Democrats pushed the issue, and Republicans dismissed it. Donald Trump sent out a tweet on the matter on Monday morning, before elaborating further in a speech at the White House later that day. On Tuesday as he was making his way to board a flight to Puerto Rico, Trump referred to the shooting as a "miracle," which resulted in heavy criticism. As seen on his Twitter account on October 3, the president clarified his remarks.
It is a "miracle" how fast the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police were able to find the demented shooter and stop him from even more killing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday night, Donald Trump responded to the criticism over his "miracle" comment regarding the mass shooting in Las Vegas.
"It is a 'miracle' how fast the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police were able to find the demented shooter and stop him from even more killing!" Trump tweeted out. As expected, his latest tweet resulted in his critics lashing out immediately on social media.
Pres. Trump praises Vegas police response to mass shooting: "What happened in Las Vegas is, in many ways, a miracle" https://t.co/IUK1F50njj pic.twitter.com/cI4cItelB7
— ABC News (@ABC) October 3, 2017
Critics react
Within minutes of his clarification on Twitter, Donald Trump was bombarded with backlash.
"My dude, your use of quotations makes you look like you’re insincere and incapable of being empathetic. Work on that!" one tweet read.
No where in the 2nd Amendment does it say we should have the right to bear semi automatic guns, a weapon that wasn't even invented for almost 100 years after the 2nd Amendment was signed! This right to bear arms is NOT unlimited and does NOT prohibit all regulation of firearms.
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) October 4, 2017
you know would have helped stop even more killing........HIM NOT BEING ABLE TO GET THE GUNS!!
— Ross Ginsberg (@RossGinsberg) October 4, 2017
My dude, your use of quotations makes you look like you’re insincere and incapable of being empathetic. Work on that!
— Sam Houston (@samhouston) October 4, 2017
"It's not a miracle.
Stephen Paddock fired so many bullets after killing so many people that the smoke detectors went off," Eugene Gu wrote, before adding, "That's not a miracle. It's a human tragedy and a horrific act of domestic terrorism."
It's a sad moment in US history when we can't even expect our President to step back during tragic moments and choose his words carefully.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) October 4, 2017
So literally, there so so much smoke from his machine gun that it set off the alarms and allowed the police to find him.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) October 4, 2017
"Words used by Trump to describe hurricanes, mass shootings, poverty, etc... reveal an incredibly out of touch person incapable of empathy," Adam Best tweeted. "You know what else could save more lives? Better gun control!" an additional tweet stated. The negative reaction continued as the opposition to Donald Trump continues to increase.
