Donald Trump: my rhetoric brings people together

On a visit to Texas and Ohio mass shooting sites, Trump dismisses claims that his words on race and immigration have stoked violent extremism

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs on travel to Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas following back-to-back mass shootings in the cities. Reuters

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday flew to the sites of mass shootings in Ohio and Texas, dismissing critics who say his tirades on race and immigration have stoked violent extremism.

Leaving the White House for a first stop in Dayton, Ohio, where nine people were gunned down over the weekend, Mr Trump said he would meet "first responders, law enforcement, some of the victims, and pay my respects".

But his job as consoler is complicated by accusations that his tirades, particularly those vilifying illegal immigrants, have emboldened extremists.

At the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, where 22 people were murdered in a Walmart frequented by many Hispanic people, the killer published an online rant echoing Mr Trump's repeated description of illegal immigration as an "invasion".

But the president said at the White House: "I think my rhetoric brings people together.

"My critics are political people, they're trying to make points. In many cases, they're running for president."

One of those critics, Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden, added to the pressure later on Wednesday with a speech accusing Mr Trump of fanning "the flames of white supremacy".

"Trump offers no moral leadership, no interest in unifying the nation," Mr Biden said.

"We have a president with a toxic tongue who has publicly and unapologetically embraced a political strategy of hate, racism and division."

Protests are expected in Dayton and El Paso, even if demonstrators are likely to be kept far from the president.

And Dayton's Democratic Mayor, Nan Whaley, bluntly promised to give him a piece of her mind, telling him "how unhelpful he's being".

"The people should stand up and say they are not happy," Ms Whaley said on Tuesday.

In El Paso, a US-Mexico border town, local Democratic congresswoman Veronica Escobar said she would stay clear of Mr Trump's visit.

"From my perspective, he is not welcome here. He should not come here," Ms Escobar told MSNBC on Tuesday.

Even the city's Republican mayor offered only a grudging welcome, stressing icily that he would greet Trump in his "official capacity".

Mr Trump is infuriated by accusations that his administration is deliberately dividing the US on racial lines.

"I am the least racist person," he tweeted on Tuesday. "Hispanic and Asian Unemployment is the lowest [best] in the history of the United States."

But Mr Trump's campaign speeches and tweets repeatedly link Hispanic migrants to murder, rape and invasion.

As recently as May, the president laughed and made a quip when a supporter at one of his rallies yelled that they should shoot illegal immigrants.

Mr Trump has also railed crudely against ethnic minority Democratic opponents.

But he and his mostly leftist opponents agree that the two mass shootings were acts of terrorism.

Massacres by mostly lone gunmen are all but routine in the US, where guns are easy to obtain legally and mass killings have taken on a cult status in extreme circles.

Hardline defenders of gun ownership have long said that such tragedies were nothing more than random, localised events.

But Mr Trump on Monday said he had told the FBI to treat such crimes as "domestic terrorism".

On Wednesday, he said that Republicans and Democrats were "close" to agreeing on stronger background checks for people buying firearms, which is a measure that gun rights groups oppose.

"I think background checks are important," Mr Trump said. "I don't want to put guns into the hands of mentally unstable people or people with rage or hate."

But he said there was no "political appetite" for banning military-style assault weapons, which are widely available and often chosen by mass killers.