A survivor of the Florida school shooting is dismissing President Donald Trump‘s condolences, saying that she’s “never been so unimpressed by a person.”
Samantha Fuentes, 18, was one of more than a dozen people injured when a gunman opened fire inside of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day. Suffering bullet wounds to both legs as well as shrapnel behind her right eye, the teenager says that a phone call she had with the president while in the hospital left her feeling as though Trump’s condolences were insincere.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“He said he heard that I was a big fan of his, and then he said, ‘I’m a big fan of yours too.’ I’m pretty sure he made that up,” Fuentes told the New York Times, adding that Trump called confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz a “sick puppy” and said “oh boy, oh boy, oh boy,’ like, seven times.”
“Talking to the president, I’ve never been so unimpressed by a person in my life. He didn’t make me feel better in the slightest,” she added.
Fuentes’ account is reminiscent of the backlash that President Trump has received following a meeting he had with parents and survivors of the Parkland, Florida shooting as well as other mass shootings on Wednesday, Feb. 21. During the more than an hour-long meeting, the president clutched a piece of White House stationary that had five notes written in black marker on the side facing the camera.
The card, seemingly scripted talking points for the president, read, “1. What would you most want me to know about your experience? 2. What can we do [to] help you feel [safe]?” The third and fourth points are obscured by the president’s fingers, but the fifth simply reads “5. I hear you.”
The notes left many feeling that president needed to be reminded to show compassion and understanding to the survivors, sparking a wave of backlash online.
