It’s widely agreed that President Donald Trump’s handling of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School nearly two weeks ago has been questionable at best. While Democratic politicians and student activists from the Parkland, Florida high school have been calling for stronger gun control and trying to enact change in response to the tragedy, so far, Trump has blamed victims for the shooting and said he would have, “run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.” (Yeah sure, Jan.)
To make matters even worse, as The Hill reports, the president recently even used a photo of him visiting a victim of the attack in the hospital in his email asking for donations to his reelection campaign, which is not a great look.
The image, which featured Trump and FLOTUS Melania Trump at the bedside of 17-year-old survivor Madeline Wilford, was used in an email newsletter sent to supporters on February 24. (And the bottom of the email in which it was used featured a link to donate to the Trump campaign and purchase merchandise.)
Unbelievable: the Trump campaign just sent out an email using the Parkland shooting, including photos of survivors, to raise money for his reelection campaign. pic.twitter.com/2WInImvsIA
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) February 24, 2018
“The nation has turned its attention to the senseless school shooting in Parkland, Florida,” the newsletter reportedly read. “The President is now engaging in an important national conversation about school safety and ways to prevent any future attacks. President Trump is taking steps towards banning gun bump stocks and strengthening background checks for gun purchasers. The President has made his intent very clear: ‘making our schools and our children safer will be our top priority.'”
Considering Trump’s previous record on gun control (or rather, lack thereof, with the exception of his recent introduction of legislation that would ban bump stocks), many, including one of Wilford’s friends, were not happy that he appeared to be using victims of a horrific massacre to get donations for his reelection campaign.
Don’t you fucking dare use a photo of one of my best friends for your benefit. If you truly cared, maybe you would have stayed at the hospital longer than 20 minutes. https://t.co/BOI6VbiJIk
— Morgan Williams (@morganw_44) February 25, 2018
“Don’t you fucking dare use a photo of one of my best friends for your benefit,” Morgan Williams, a survivor of the shooting, tweeted in response. “If you truly cared, maybe you would have stayed at the hospital longer than 20 minutes.”
Trump had also previously used the photos from his visit to the hospital on his Instagram. Both the president and many GOP politicians have prompted criticism and outrage in the past two weeks for offering “thoughts and prayers” while refusing to enact legislation that could create change in a country where mass shootings have become all too common — so using a photo of a shooting victim to talk about creating change while refusing to take any actual action to prevent similar tragedies in the future probably wasn’t the best choice.