Former President Donald Trump has yet again grabbed headlines. It was hours after the latest mass shooting in the U.S., that Trump continued his practice of using American tragedies to promote himself.
Donald Trump talks about the matter
Trump made a brief mention of the shooting that left 10 dead in Monterey Park, California, in a Sunday post on Truth Social—only to quickly pivot to the prosecution of those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 after Trump’s false and disproven claims about the 2020 election.
“[Ten] dead in California shooting, horrible gun wielding ANTIFA protest against our great police in Atlanta – Nothing will happen to them despite night of rage and destruction,” Trump wrote. “Yet our January 6th protestors, over a Rigged Election, have had their lives ruined despite nobody killed except true Patriot Ashli B. This situation will be fully rectified after 2024 Election. Thank you!”
While Babbitt was the only person killed on Capitol grounds, four people died of medical emergencies, including a Capitol Police officer. Multiple police officers died by suicide following the attack.
The Trump campaign isn’t saying much about how an infamous former mob boss ended up taking a picture with the ex-president at the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach earlier this month. Ex-con Joey Merlino, who reputedly ran Philadelphia’s organized crime family, is seen giving a thumb’s up with Donald Trump in the photo obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer. “President Trump takes countless photos with people.
That does not mean he knows every single person he comes in contact with,” a campaign spokesperson said, declining to say whether Trump knows Merlino or was aware of his history. The Inquirer notes that the picture may “renew concerns among Trump loyalists eager to help him retake the White House next year that he still lacks the sort of protective political infrastructure that would prevent a candidate for president from taking a picture with a convicted mobster whose last stint in federal prison ended in mid-2020.”
