United States President Donald Trump lambasted news outlets on social media, calling their allegation of him being the cause of the recent New Zealand shooting tragedy as being "ridiculous." Trump claimed that the news outlets he personally calls the "fake news media" are now working overtime to pin the blame on him for what had happened in New Zealand. The tragic shooting had claimed the lives of 50 Muslim worshippers, who were gunned down inside two separate mosques.
News outlets had used the shooter's 74-page manifesto as clear evidence that Trump was partly to blame for what had happened. The shooter, who was a self-proclaimed white supremacist, mentioned in his manifesto that he saw Trump as a symbol for "renewed white identity."
Democrats and US citizens had also started to criticize Trump for downplaying the threat of white nationalism. Trump mentioned over the weekend that white nationalism wasn't as big of a threat as it would seem. The president argued that what had happened in New Zealand was perpetrated by just a small group of people who were experiencing mental problems.
One Democratic politician also openly criticized the president's declarations and called for him to issue a stronger statement against Muslim discrimination and hate. According to Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, a Muslim representative in the House, as a leader of the country, Trump shouldn't say that what had happened was just caused by a small group of people. Tlaib explained that the tragedy had claimed too many lives and people need to start speaking against it and that the president should lead that movement. Other critics have called on the president to become a moral leader and to publicly condemn such hateful ideologies.
In an interview with reporters, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney had reiterated that the president was not a White supremacist and that he does not support that movement. When asked if Trump should give a major speech about the anti-Muslim issue and about the rising white nationalist threat, Mulvaney simply reiterated his previous statement claiming that the White House does not support discrimination of any kind and that Trump was not anti-Muslim.
While this may be true, some politicians do not completely agree with how Trump has been handling the situation. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware publicly called Trump's actions as one of the most despicable things about his campaign. Coons alleges that the president has been trying to worsen the division in the United States, which he then uses for his own partisan political advantage.
