Thursday, 2 May 2024

Toledo? Trump Misstates Location of Ohio Massacre

In a televised speech on Monday condemning two mass shootings over the weekend, President Trump mistakenly named the wrong city in Ohio.

“May God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo,” the president said, referring to a city more than 100 miles away from Dayton, the location of a massacre on Sunday. “May God protect them. May God protect all of those from Texas to Ohio. May God bless the victims and their families. May God bless America.”

Many Americans were still reeling from the massacre on Saturday that left 22 dead and dozens injured at a Walmart in El Paso, only to awaken on Sunday to the news of another mass killing, this time an attack in Dayton’s entertainment district that left nine dead and 27 injured.

Mr. Trump wasn’t the only politician to trip over the details. On Sunday night, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, misstated the locations of both shootings.

At a fund-raiser, Mr. Biden referred to “the tragic events in Houston today and also in Michigan the day before,” according to a pool report. Mr. Biden later corrected himself, according to the report.

The mass shooting on Saturday took place in El Paso, about 700 miles from Houston. A white man is accused of opening fire in a Walmart there, killing and wounding dozens of people after writing a manifesto railing against immigration. Many in the city linked the suspect’s words to Mr. Trump’s public statements and broader animosity toward immigrants.

After his remarks on Monday morning, Mr. Trump walked offstage without taking questions from reporters and did not immediately acknowledge the location error. It was not clear if the error was in his prepared remarks on the teleprompter. A transcript of his remarks released by the White House later in the day showed the phrase “in Toledo” struck through.

No politician or president is immune to flubs, and Mr. Trump has had his share. Just last month, for example, he suggested during an Independence Day speech that American soldiers “took over the airports” during or shortly after the Revolutionary War. No airports, or airplanes, existed at that time.

And last fall, Mr. Trump referred to Paradise, Calif., which had been devastated by wildfires, as “Pleasure.” He added, “What a name,” and repeated the mistake before other officials corrected him.

In his remarks on Monday, Mr. Trump said, “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy — these sinister ideologies must be defeated.” He also used Twitter to call on Republicans and Democrats to work together to strengthen background checks for prospective gun buyers and pass new immigration laws.

Democratic presidential candidates have sought to connect the El Paso shooting to Mr. Trump, arguing that he has encouraged extremism with what they called hateful language. And on Monday, one of those candidates, Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, swore in a terse tweet after Mr. Trump’s “Toledo” comment.

Mr. Ryan followed that up with a series of tweets. “Dayton. 9 lives lost. 27 people wounded,” he wrote in one. “A community reeling in pain, anguish and anger. I see you.”

Niraj Chokshi contributed reporting.





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