Dayton, Ohio, Mayor Nan Whaley said Thursday she still does not know why she and Sen. Sherrod Brown were attacked by President Trump on Twitter after they applauded his visit to an area hospital.
Mr. Trump traveled to Dayton and then El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday to meet with the people affected by back-to-back mass shootings in both cities that left 31 dead.
After Mr. Trump left Dayton on Wednesday, the two Democrats held a press conference where Mr. Brown said the president was “comforting” and Ms. Whaley said victims of a recent shooting were “grateful” to have him there.
However, the president attacked the two on Twitter, saying: “Failed Presidential Candidate (0%) Sherrod Brown & Mayor Whaley totally misrepresenting what took place inside of the hospital. Their news conference after I left for El Paso was a fraud. It bore no resemblance to what took place.”
A reporter caught Ms. Whaley’s immediate reaction to Mr. Trump’s tweet, and she said she was “really confused.” On CNN’s “New Day,” the mayor said she still doesn’t know where it came from.
“Of course, we’ve been inundated with media since the tragic events of Dayton on Sunday, and we’ve been very open about us wanting the state and federal government to do something around gun control. We shared that with the president. He was well-received by victims and first-responders. So yeah, I’m at a loss why all this vitriol came after he had a good visit at the hospital,” Ms. Whaley said.
“I can’t really speculate for why the president felt this way, but it’s just unfortunate because for Daytonians what we’re really hoping to see is some action, and we’re hoping he’s not an all-talk politician,” she added.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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