The mayor of Pittsburgh and governor of Pennsylvania, both Democrats, won’t join President Trump when he visits Pittsburgh Tuesday afternoon to mourn the victims of a synagogue shooting.
Mayor Bill Peduto won’t greet Mr. Trump, saying he wanted to focus on the funerals that began Tuesday morning for some of the 11 people who were killed.
A campaign spokeswoman for Gov. Tom Wolf told The Associated Press that the governor based his decision on input from the victims’ families, who told him they did not want the president to be there on the day their loved ones were being buried.
Jeffrey Myers, a rabbi at Tree of Life synagogue where the shootings occurred, said the president is welcome in Pittsburgh.
“The president of the United States is always welcome,” Mr. Myers said on CNN. “I’m a citizen. He’s my president. He’s certainly welcome.”
Mr. Trump, who will be accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, said the trip is important to him.
“I’m just going to pay my respects,” the president told Fox News on Monday night. “I would have done it even sooner, but I didn’t want to disrupt anymore than they already had disruption.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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