Left Attacks Trump for Smiling in Photos, Forgets Obama Did Exactly the Same Thing
President Donald Trump was the subject of harsh criticism for smiling in photos taken during his visit to Florida in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland that left 17 people dead.
But many on the left seemed to forget that in 2012, during his trip to Colorado to meet with survivors and the families of victims killed in the Aurora movie theater shooting, then-President Barack Obama did something similar.
On Friday, after meeting with survivors of the Parkland shooting, Trump posted a series of photos to social media showing him standing beside medical professionals and victims at a local hospital. In some of the photos, Trump was smiling and giving a thumbs-up.
This was too much for Wisconsin Democrat Rep. Mark Pocan.
“How can you stand there smiling and give a thumbs up when 17 Americans were killed in one of the nation’s deadliest school shootings?” Pocan tweeted. “Where is your courage to stand up to the @NRA, @realDonaldTrump?”
Other users expressed similar sentiments, arguing that the president was being disrespectful.
As noted by The Daily Caller, though, none of this outrage from the left was present in 2012, even though photos of Obama’s visit to Colorado revealed that he was smiling as well.
In July of that year, a gunman opened fire in a move theater, killing 12 people and wounding many more. Days later, Obama paid a visit to the University of Colorado Hospital.
“I confessed to them that words are always inadequate,” Obama said following his hospital visit, according to CBS News. He added that “main task was to serve as a representative of the entire country and we think of them at this moment and we will continue to think of them each and every day.”
According to The Daily Caller’s Benny Johnson, “Shootings are tragic events. The gun debate in America rages on.”
“But that should not stop our President from being a human being.”
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