Trump used his El Paso 'healing' visit to brag about crowd sizes

Donald Trump spent Wednesday visiting El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio after the cities were rocked by mass shootings which occurred just hours apart.

As such events have sadly become a more frequent occurrence in modern America, presidents have increasingly learned to act as a figure of comfort and solace at such times.

However, Mr Trump couldn’t resist a bit of self-promotion, telling El Paso’s city manager about the demand for a rally he held there in February.

He boasted:

We could have sold it out four times.

The official is almost certainly well aware of the rally in question – the Trump campaign allegedly still owes the city more than $500,000 for the event. According to CNN, the Trump administration has still not reimbursed the costs of police and public safety measures that were put in place for the visit.

Whether bragging is simply something he does when he's feeling awkward, or there's a deeper malaise at work remains within the realm of medical professionals, but the fact is Mr Trump has never been good at dealing with tragedy.

He's consistently managed to make 9/11 about himself, boasting that, after the terrorist attack, his building "was the tallest".

Lending credence to the generous interpretation that Mr Trump was simply feeling awkward and resorted to what he knows best, it was a highly uncomfortable visit for the president.

The El Paso shooter is believed to have been targeting Latinx victims, having previously written of a "Hispanic invasion", and opening fire in a Walmart located in a heavily Central American neighbourhood. Seven of the 22 people killed were Mexican citizens.

Many high profile US lawmakers, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have accused the president, who campaigned on a divisive "build the wall" campaign, of creating an environment that encourages such acts of terrorism with his increasingly racist and hostile rhetoric.

As a result, Mr Trump was met in Texas by protesters holding banners reading "Go home. You are NOT welcome here!".

The city's congresswoman, Veronica Escobar, refused to meet the president until he discussed how his "racist and hateful words and actions" had harmed her community and country.

While many were upset by the president's behaviour, few were surprised.

Meanwhile, in contrast...

More: Four of the most deadly shootings in US history have happened since Trump became president

More: Trump boasted after 9/11 attacks his building was tallest