On a day that the Anti-Defamation League labeled “likely the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States”—with 11 dead—Donald Trump said he didn’t want to go ahead with plans for a "Make America Great Again" campaign rally today in the southern Illinois city of Murphysboro, but that he felt he has an obligation to go.
Before he arrived in Indianapolis for an earlier campaign rally, Trump had told reporters he was thinking about canceling the Illinois rally. But speaking to a gathering of Indiana’s Future Farmers of America, he said he had changed his mind:
"At first I was thinking 'I’ll cancel' and then I said we can't let evil change our life and change our schedule," Trump said. "Otherwise, we give them too much credit, we make them too important."
Comparing his decision to the reopening of the New York Stock Exchange following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., Trump said he felt duty-bound to hold the rally.
"You go with a heavy heart but you go," he said. "Not that I want to go. But I think, actually in reverse, (I) have an obligation to go."
Riiggggght. In fact, after the 9/11 attacks, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq remained closed until September 17. It was the longest shutdown since 1933. But that “heavy heart” doesn’t trump the pr*sident’s desire to inject more hatred into his followers.
Speaking in Indianapolis or Murphysboro could have been transformed into a moment of national grief. But not by a guy who, despite the upsurge of violence by right-wing extremists, continues to spew white supremacist garbage at rally after rally, naming “enemies,” and making not-so-veiled remarks encouraging physical responses to his opponents.
UPDATE at 1:40 PM PT: