Trump to travel to Pittsburgh Tuesday, after synagogue massacre
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said President Trump will travel to Pittsburgh Tuesday to honor the 11 victims of Saturday's massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue.
Sanders became emotional when she expressed outrage over Saturday's attacks, particularly when she mentioned the president's Jewish family members. Sanders said Mr. Trump "adores Jewish Americans as part of his own family. The president is the grandfather of several Jewish grandchildren. His daughter is a Jewish American and his son-in-law is a descendent a holocaust survivors."
But Sanders defended Mr. Trump's defense of himself, after the president has continued to attack the media and his critics in the wake of the bomb threats against Democrats and CNN, and Saturday's deadly shooting at the synagogue. Mr. Trump -- consoling in scripted speeches while still attacking opponents on Twitter -- has himself faced questions about whether he's living up to his own call for the nation to unify. The president has taken to blaming the media for the "anger" plaguing the country.
"There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news," the president tweeted Monday morning. "The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That will do much to put out the flame.......of Anger and Outrage, and we will then be able to bring all sides together in Peace and Harmony. Fake News Must End!"
Sanders said Mr. Trump will continue to "fight back," draw contrasts between Republicans and Democrats and defend himself against what she described as unfair, negative media coverage. Sanders wouldn't say which outlets the president views as enemies of the people, although Mr. Trump in the past has said up to 85 percent of outlets are fake news.
"The president is going to continue to draw contrasts," Sanders said. "Let's not forget that these same Democrats have repeatedly attacked the president whether it was Eric Holder saying kick them when they're down or it was Hillary Clinton saying you can't be civil until Democrats have control of congress or whether it was Maxine Waters who encouraged her supporters to get up not just in the president's face but all administration officials' faces. The president is going to continue to fight back not only when they attack him but all members of his administration."