President Donald Trump veered quickly away from his response to the California synagogue shooting, sending condolences to those affected before quickly changing the subject to his political rally in Wisconsin later Saturday night.
"My deepest sympathies go to the people that were affected, the families, the loved ones," Trump said. "Obviously, it looks right now, based on my last conversations, looks like a hate crime. Hard to believe."
Trump then moved on to explain at length that he was about to get on a plane to Green Bay, Wis., where he said that a big crowd had been "waiting since yesterday" to see him. He also told reporters about his golf game with Japanese leader Shinzo Abe and that they discussed trade issues, remarks that seemed tone deaf coming just minutes after the heartbreaking attack.
Rabbi Chuck Diamond, a former rabbi at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, said Trump needs to stop fueling the fire and focus on ending the hatred spewed by some of his supporters.
"The president says we're going to get to the bottom of this," the rabbi told CNN. "Talk is cheap."
On Twitter it was the same story. Trump started with a quick tweet expressing his condolences.
"Thoughts and prayers to all of those affected by the shooting at the Synagogue in Poway, California. God bless you all. Suspect apprehended. Law enforcement did outstanding job. Thank you!"
Instead of leaving that tweet up at the top of his much-watched feed, Trump quickly pivoted to the political rally. He originally scheduled the event to coincide with the White House Correspondents dinner in Washington, which he is boycotting along with White House aides.
Trump found time to praise a Border Patrol officer who opened fire and missed the gunman at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in California. That might have been a nod to Trump's anti-immigrant base, which often pick out Border Patrol agents for special praise.
When faced with major news events, most leaders try to focus on that issue alone and not switch gears to other subjects. It's common to cancel or delay overtly political events like the Wisconsin rally.
In the hours after the Pittsburgh synagogue bloodbath, Trump went ahead with political rallies that focused mostly on his trade war with China and European allies.
He joked that he was having a "bad hair day" as he jetted out during a windy day to one of the rallies just a day after the shootings.
