Three days after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in Las Vegas, President Donald Trump said it was too soon to discuss gun control.
“We’re not going to talk about that today. We won’t talk about that,” said Trump as he visited survivors in hospital on Oct. 4.
It took two days for Trump to condemn neo-Nazi groups after the death of a counter-protester at the hands of an alleged white supremacist in Charlottesville, Va.
He later justified the delay by saying he needed to “know the facts” before calling out racist groups, adding “I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct, not make a quick statement.”
Yet just a few hours after a suspected terrorist killed eight people in New York City, Trump took to Twitter. “Another attack by a very sick and deranged person,” he proclaimed almost immediately, hinting at ISIS involvement even before the suspect’s name had been released.
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Before the night was over he tweeted “I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!”
Less than 12 hours later, Trump was assigning blame to New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat.
“The terrorist came into our country through what is called the “Diversity Visa Lottery Program,” a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based,” he tweeted.
By the end of the morning, Trump told his cabinet “we’re so politically correct that we’re afraid to do anything,” before announcing his intent to terminate the diversity lottery program.
Trump has shown before that he won’t hesitate to weigh in when he suspects a terrorist attack might have ties to Islamic extremism.
It fits the narrative he’s trying to build about the need to restrict travel to the U.S., crack down on immigration, and build that wall with Mexico.
Playing up the threat, is like tossing red meat to his base.
But the reality is Trump’s rush to assign blame for the New York attack ignores the facts of the situation.
WATCH: Trump plans to end green card lottery program following New York attack
Yes, Schumer was a key part of the legislation that created the diversity visa program in 1990, but Schumer also played a lead role in the 2013 “Gang of 8” immigration bill that would have ended the diversity lottery program.
That bill was approved by the Senate, but not by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. They failed to act, and the bill died.
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, a vocal critic of Trump, took to Twitter to point out that “had the Senate Gang of 8 bill passed the House, it would have ended the Visa Lottery Program AND increased merit based visas.”
The suspected terrorist also immigrated from Uzbekistan, which is not one of the countries targeted by Trump’s repeated attempts at a travel ban.
Those are all pretty inconvenient facts for the White House.
They sure don’t fit the story being spun by conservative media outlets and parroted by Trump himself.
In fact Fox News, which seems to guide much of Trump’s thinking, didn’t bother to mention Schumer’s role in attempting to repeal the visa lottery system, or Republican efforts to block that repeal. Fox only mentioned Schumer’s role in creating the program.
In the face of tragedy, a leader with access to the best intelligence and information gathering on the planet is relaying cable news spin to score quick political points.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused Trump of giving attackers exactly what they wanted. “You play into the hands of the terrorists to the extent you disrupt and divide,” he said.
On a more basic level, Trump is ignoring the advice his own White House once gave in the wake of another tragedy.
“Let’s gather facts,” read the official talking points, adding “new laws won’t stop a madman committed to harming innocent people.”
That was the message immediately after the mass shooting in Las Vegas.
But when the crime — and the suspect — help the president meet his political goals, it seems those words don’t apply.
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