NEW YORK _ President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have become locked in a political fight over the tragic terror attack in Manhattan, which killed eight and wounded 14.
Schumer blasted Trump on the Senate floor Wednesday morning, just hours after the president suggested the New York Democrat was at fault for Tuesday's attack.
"President Trump, where is your leadership?" Schumer said. "The contrast between President (George W.) Bush's actions after 9/11 and President Trump's actions this morning could not be starker."
Hours earlier Trump began tweeting that attacker Sayfullo Saipov entered the U.S. in 2010 through the Diversity Visa Lottery from Uzbekistan.
"The terrorist came into our country through what is called the 'Diversity Visa Lottery Program,' a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based," Trump tweeted.
The Washington Post noted Schumer, then in the House of Representatives, worked on the broader Immigration Act of 1990, of which the Diversity Visa program was a part.
Trump's tweet came after reports Saipov, who drove the equivalent of 14 blocks on a bike path during his rampage, entered the U.S. with a Diversity Visa _ prompting conservatives to attack Schumer.
Trump doubled down on the vitriol, using Tuesday's bloodshed to push for a merit-based system for allowing foreign nationals into the country.
"We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter)," Trump spouted about seven minutes after his first tweet. He tagged Fox News' "Fox & Friends" morning show.
Schumer, speaking on the Senate floor, shamed Trump's response _ drawing a parallel to Bush's appearance at Ground Zero after 9/11.
He also pointed out Trump's proposed budget had cuts to anti-terror funding, which Schumer said was crucial to NYPD efforts to prevent attacks.
"So again, I am calling on the president to rescind his proposed cuts to this vital anti-terrorism funding immediately instead of dividing, instead of politicizing, do something real, Mr. President," Schumer said.
The Immigration Act of 1990 overwhelmingly passed both the House and Senate _ controlled by Democrats at the time _ and was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, not long after receiving it.
Schumer was also part of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" group of senators who in 2013 proposed an immigration reform bill that would've done away with the program. The law, which also would've strengthened merit-based visa programs, failed to pass.
That's something Trump critic Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., pointed out Wednesday morning.
"Actually, the Gang of 8, including @SenSchumer, did away with the Diversity Visa Program as part of broader reforms. I know, I was there," Flake retorted to Trump's tweet.
