For as long as he’s shown any political ambitions, President Donald Trump has not been shy about letting his enemies know how he feels about them.
And to his supporters, this is likely an attractive part of his personality as taking the fight to whoever ends up on his bad side can be seen as refusing to back down.
But even if the way Trump approaches his reproach didn’t sometimes invite accusations of racism, there would still be room for concern as to the times and places that he levies them.
And for some, the most recent example of this occurred in El Paso.
On Wednesday, President Trump visited the University Medical Center in El Paso, Texas.
Although KVIA reported that news cameras were not permitted during this visit, one of the medical staff present captured their meeting with the president on their phone.
Soon after Trump entered the shot, a doctor formally introduced him to the hospital’s medical staff.
He referred to them as “the best medical staff in El Paso” and extolled the work they’ve done to care for victims of the Walmart mass shooting that took place on Saturday.
Then, President Trump addressed the staff directly.
He lets them know that they’re being discussed throughout the world for the incredible job they’ve done in the aftermath of the tragedy.
As the First Lady entered, Trump also expressed praise for the doctor’s efforts.
He suggested that he has received enough renown for his work that Trump feels like he knows him now, particularly after getting the chance to meet him.
RELATED STORIES
So far, this doesn’t sound too out of step for a president making this sort of visit, but then Trump started to go off-topic.
Trump began talking about a rally he held in El Paso at County Coliseum where he claimed that not only was the area packed, but the crowd outside numbered twice the venue’s capacity.
Besides turning attention away from the reason for his visit, there’s another reason bringing up the rally was awkward.
According to Forbes Trump still owes over $500,000 to the city of El Paso for security, fire and public health protection services provided during this rally.
From here, Trump transitioned into making fun of former congressional representative Beto O’Rourke, whose district included El Paso.
As he put it, “And then you had this crazy Beto, Beto had like 400 people in parking lot and they said his crowd was wonderful.”
Although it’s unclear how the staff at large felt about this tangent, one member was particularly excited to meet the president.
He not only said he was in the front row during that County Coliseum rally, but pulled up a pant leg to reveal he was wearing Trump-branded socks.
After acknowledging the socks, Trump said, “Don’t tell it to the press because they won’t even believe it.”
The video ended soon after this, which was likely because Trump wanted to gather the staff together for a group photo.
Nonetheless, the video drew criticism on Twitter.
Users accused Trump of turning the aftermath of a violent tragedy into a makeshift campaign ad.
But of course, you have the opportunity to consider the character of Trump’s remarks for yourself after watching the full video.
