Following the consecutive mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, over the weekend, Ivanka Trump‘s message for the victims, as well as her call for unity, are being met with backlash. Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, took to Twitter on Sunday just hours after a second mass shooting sent shockwaves throughout the country and claimed 31 lives and left more than 50 injured.
“As our nation mourns the senseless loss of life in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and prays for the victims and their loved ones, we must also raise our voices in rejection of these heinous and cowardly acts of hate, terror and violence,” she tweeted. “White supremacy, like all other forms of terrorism, is an evil that must be destroyed.”
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“May God hold the victims, their families and the El Paso and Dayton communities tightly in his loving arms,” she added in a subsequent tweet.
Trump’s words, just as the words of other politicians, were immediately met with backlash, many slamming her father for his reluctance to take firm action to prevent further tragedies.
— liberté (@favora_2018) August 4, 2019
“If only there were something you could do, right?” one person wrote. “Oh, I know, maybe tell your dad to stop empowering these people. Better yet, tell him to resign.”
“Like father, like daughter,” another person wrote. “Your words are as empty as your hearts.”
— stella (@racismdestroys) August 4, 2019
“You do know your Dad is the cause right?” one person asked.
“Loving arms are irrelevant and unlikely. Firearms are here and now,” commented another. “As are white supremacists and any number fruitloops.”
Imagine being Ivanka. You played a key role in getting your dangerous racist Daddy elected BUT you feel:
-No responsibility for Charlottesville
-No responsibility for kids in cages
-No responsibility for racist attacks on black lawmakers
-No responsibility for El PasoImagine!
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) August 4, 2019
In the wake of the shootings, which came just a week after a gunman killed three and injured 15 at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California, celebrities and everyday citizens alike have voiced their concern over the growing epidemic of gun violence in America, many calling for stricter gun laws. There has also been widespread criticism of hate speech.
Addressing the country during a press conference Monday, President Trump said that the shootings “are an assault upon our communities, an attack upon our nation and a crime against all of humanity,” adding that “in one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.”
Authorities are investigating the El Paso shooting as an act of domestic terrorism. The motive in the Dayton shooting, which claimed nine victims, remains unclear.