Donald Trump has given his first press conference in the White House since the two mass shootings that claimed killed and injured more than 80 people in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio respectively.
In a mostly reserved and considered speech, the president called the acts of violence 'barbaric slaughters' and called for mental health reforms, stronger background checks and condemned white supremacist violence.
However, towards the end of the speech, Trump slipped up by mistakenly naming the wrong city in Ohio while sharing his thoughts and prayers. Rather than Dayton, he said Toledo instead.
May God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo, may God protect them. May God protect all of those from Texas to Ohio. May God bless the victims and their families.
Trump, struggling with a bad case of what appears to be dry mouth, falsely claimed the Ohio mass shooting took plac… https://t.co/aDysFTI4dg— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1565014989
In what was likely an error on the teleprompter that Trump was reading from, the president found himself at the centre of mockery in a moment where he would have probably wished to avoid any embarrassing headlines.
Due to this colossal gaffe from the commander in chief, Twitter was soon awash with jokes mocking the president for his poor geography skills.
"May God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo" Toledo? https://t.co/xVkqrveEl9— Timothy Burke (@Timothy Burke) 1565014816
Trump says those lost in Toledo will not have died in vain but it was actually Dayton— John Harwood (@John Harwood) 1565014745
Toledo? Isn't he reading off a prompter?— Seung Min Kim (@Seung Min Kim) 1565014717
When he finally went off-script, at the very end of his speech, Trump blessed the people of “Toledo.” Donald, the… https://t.co/Wt27Uaz6v3— Michael Skolnik (@Michael Skolnik) 1565014827
I didn't believe it. I had to rewind the DVR three times. He said "may God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo."— Brian Stelter (@Brian Stelter) 1565014901
My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Toledo because why the fck not?— Charles P. Pierce (@Charles P. Pierce) 1565015034
Some started to ask if something happened in Toledo that they weren't aware of.
What the fuck happened in #Toledo Mr. Prez?— laReekdaFreek (@laReekdaFreek) 1565014737
Everyone in #Toledo https://t.co/wYuyJ1kSuD— Homer Doom (@Homer Doom) 1565016555
Although Toledo and Dayton are in the same state they aren't exactly close to each other.
Did Trump just bless Toledo? https://t.co/aJ2x8ZNcAO— shauna (@shauna) 1565014805
Trump mentioned Toledo, which is 150 miles away from Dayton, where the shooting occurred.— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈) 1565014730
To be fair to Trump, Toledo and Dayton ARE in the same state, along with hundreds of other towns and cities.— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈) 1565015772
Or was there something else behind Trump's nod towards Toledo?
Coincidence?🤔 I don't think so. #toledo https://t.co/uuVqLe8iU7— Bazil Fawlty (@Bazil Fawlty) 1565015450
Is Toledo near Bowling Green?— Juliette Kayyem (@Juliette Kayyem) 1565015228
Context: Toledo, which President Trump just mentioned in his speech, is a 150 miles from Dayton, where the shooting actually happened.— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche Alcindor) 1565015465
This should be of concern for the president as Ohio was one of the key states that he won in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump won Ohio. He can’t even make the effort to remember which city in the state people were killed in.— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@Adam Serwer 🍝) 1565015073
'Holy Toledo...'
Holy Toledo Donald Trump is a Dumbfuck.— Tony Posnanski (@Tony Posnanski) 1565016046
Holy Toledo https://t.co/AGoPtRm9ed— Matthew A. Cherry (@Matthew A. Cherry) 1565015221
Holy Toledo.— Rich Eisen (@Rich Eisen) 1565016836
Holy Toledo Batman, I think the Joker has list his mind https://t.co/JhxOaWz1bJ— Quantum Whimsy (@Quantum Whimsy) 1565016223
There is always a tweet...
Jokes aside there is something more worrying about Trump's disregard for the name of the place where a massacre just took place.
HT The Hill