Donald Trump Tweeted About The Pulse Anniversary—And Twitter Went IN
Monday, of course, was the one-year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, when 49 people were brutally murdered by a lone gunman. And Donald Trump, who broke with tradition by not issuing a Pride month proclamation, managed to tweet out a message about the anniversary.
"We will NEVER FORGET the victims who lost their lives one year ago today in the horrific #PulseNightClub shooting," he wrote.
The tweet received more than 16,000 retweets and 62,000 likes, with supporters taking the opportunity to blast FBI director James Comey, defend gun rights, and urge Trump to adopt stridently Islamophobic policies
Vice President Mike Pence, who supports conversion therapy for gay people, retweeted the message.
But Trump's tweet also garnered a fair amount of opprobrium.
A year ago, when news broke about the attack, Trump was busy patting himself on the back. "[I] appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism," he tweeted on the morning of June 12, 2016. For him to pay tribute to the fallen now rang hollow to many.
Do Something's Calvin Stowell called out Trump as a hypocrite and opportunist.
Even actor Ethan Embry had something to say.
Last July at the Republican National Convention, Trump promised to protect LGBT Americans from "a hateful foreign ideology."
“Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted [the] LGBTQ community. No good. And we’re going to stop it. As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology. Believe me.”
This is not the first time a Trump has been put on blast for a message to the LGBT community. Earlier this month, Ivanka Trump tweeted out a Pride month message that many found self-serving and disingenuous.