The White House press secretary vigorously defended U.S. President Donald Trump’s silence on Twitter over the Quebec City mosque shooting on Thursday, arguing that the president already responded to the massacre in a statement.
Trump controls his own Twitter account, and his social media presence has become a powerful tool of his early presidency. Since the Quebec shooting 11 days ago, Trump has tweeted about Nordstrom dropping his daughter’s fashion line, the Super Bowl, keeping “evil” out of the U.S. and how he thinks Arnold Schwarzenegger did a “really bad job” as host of “Celebrity Apprentice.”
In a press briefing Thursday, press secretary Sean Spicer was asked why Trump hasn’t used his account to personally address the shooting that killed six Muslim men, including a butcher, a university professor and a civil servant.
“I came out here are actually spoke about it and said the president spoke --,“ Spicer said, before cutting himself off. “You’re equating me addressing the nation here, and a tweet?”
Indeed, Spicer began a briefing the day after the shooting by saying Trump had reached out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to offer condolences. Spicer then indirectly linked the Quebec massacre to Trump’s travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, glossing over the fact that the victims of the shooting were Muslims and the lone suspect has been described as a xenophobic nationalist with radical anti-immigrant views.
“It’s a terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant and why the president is taking steps to be proactive and not reactive on issues of national security,” Spicer said.
On Thursday, Spicer was pushed on why Trump did not tweet about the massacre. A reporter went on to ask Spicer about comments Kellyanne Conway made in an interview to CNN host Jake Tapper in which she defended the president’s silence on the shooting by saying he “doesn’t tweet about everything.”
Spicer brushed the question off as “silly.”
“I mean, that’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. Okay, I’m done this is silly – next,” he said.
Trump’s online silence in the wake of the Jan. 29 attack was noticeable. Other global leaders, including Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and French President Francois Hollande, went online to express condolences after the deadly shooting.
México se solidariza con Canadá y con las familias de quienes perdieron la vida en una mezquita de la Ciudad de Quebec.
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) January 30, 2017
Our prayers tonight are with the people of Quebec City as they deal with a terrible attack on a mosque. We must stand together.
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) January 30, 2017
Je dénonce avec la plus grande fermeté l'odieux attentat qui a fait au moins six morts et de nombreux blessés dans une mosquée à Québec.
— François Hollande (@fhollande) January 30, 2017
With files from the Associated Press
