The official story of Donald Trump’s visits to Dayton and El Paso in the wake of mass shootings is that Trump “was treated like a Rock Star,” with the photos and videos to prove it. But the level of bile spewing from Trump through Wednesday suggests that under the official story and the grinning photos, he was in an epic sulk-and-fume.
By one count, Trump attacked 14 different people or media organizations on Wednesday, including five Democratic presidential candidates, a senator, a member of Congress, a mayor, two news anchors, and his former biographer.
Trump’s attacks on Sen. Sherrod Brown and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, after his visit to the hospital in Dayton, were perhaps most revealing. Trump accused Brown and Whaley of “totally misrepresenting what took place inside of the hospital.” Which is interesting, since they praised Trump’s hospital visit, with Brown saying the victims “were hurting. He was comforting. He did the right things. Melania did the right things.” To be sure, Brown and Whaley both criticized Trump’s divisive rhetoric and personal attacks outside the hospital, but, as Whaley said when she read Trump’s “totally misrepresenting” tweet, “I don’t—I mean, I’m really confused. We said he was treated, like, very well. So, I don’t know why they’re talking about ‘misrepresenting.’”
Maybe Trump needed his followers to believe that Democrats will attack him no matter what. Maybe that’s just how bad a mood he was in, that he couldn’t take a compliment at face value. But it’s a reminder that even when Trump is grinning, he’s seething.