Donald Trump has been filmed showing “zero empathy” for an 8-year-old boy during a meeting with families of Tennessee tornado victims.
The US president met with the families on Friday in the town of Cookeville as part of a trip to see the devastation caused by this week’s tornadoes.
As Trump stood in front of destroyed homes he spoke to the press about an 8-year-old boy who was carried away from his family home by a tornado, only to land alive two blocks away.
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“An 8-year-old boy was ripped out, flown to a certain area and dropped off at the street two or three blocks away and they found him walking and he said ‘I just flew in the air,” said Trump in the Fox News video.
After asking ”how did his parents do?” and being informed the boy’s parents and sister had died in the storms he relayed that information to the crowd before moving on by saying “So we’re gonna go see some of the folks.”
No condolences were expressed from the president. Twitter user @mysterysolvent expressed disbelief at the way he acted.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Trump while visiting tornado victims in TN tells a story about a boy being carried by the tornado, like it’s the greatest thing he’s ever heard! Then he asks about the parents....People tell him they’re dead along with his sister. No emotion, NOTHING! Idiot!”
User @nightlypolitics echoed that statement accusing Trump of having zero empathy.
Wearing a hat emblazoned with “Keep America Great” Trump told the crowd at Cookeville that federal aid to help support the affected areas would be arriving “very quickly.”
“What they need. We are going to take care of what they need.” said Trump when asked about when they should expect the funding he had earlier approved.
After speaking to the press, Trump met with local families where he was applauded by some, with one man telling him "We're a big family. We support you." according to the video.
northforthesummer on March 7th, 2020 at 16:31 UTC »
I watched this live yesterday and it was so bizarre. Trump got fixated on this 8-year-old being sucked out of his house by the tornado and flung across the street while his entire family died. He kept asking if the rest of the family died (they did) and then repeating that info over and over, increasingly incoherently. I honestly think he has mild dementia. It's the same behavior my grandmother in-law demonstrates and she's in a home.
Cliqey on March 7th, 2020 at 16:21 UTC »
“I’m not good for medical. In other words, if you cut your finger and there’s blood pouring out, I’m gone,”
“I was at Mar-a-Lago and we had this incredible ball, the Red Cross Ball, in Palm Beach, Florida.
And we had the Marines. And the Marines were there, and it was terrible because all these rich people, they're there to support the Marines, but they're really there to get their picture in the Palm Beach Post.
So, you have all these really rich people, and a man, about 80 years old - very wealthy man, a lot of people didn't like him - he fell off the stage.
So what happens is, this guy falls off right on his face, hits his head, and I thought he died.
And you know what I did? I said, 'Oh my God, that's disgusting,' and I turned away.
I couldn't, you know, he was right in front of me and I turned away. I didn't want to touch him. He's bleeding all over the place, I felt terrible.
You know, beautiful marble floor, didn't look like it. It changed colour. Became very red.
And you have this poor guy, 80 years old, laying on the floor unconscious, and all the rich people are turning away
What happens is, these 10 Marines from the back of the room.
They come running forward, they grab him, they put the blood all over the place—it's all over their uniforms—they're taking it, they're swiping [it], they ran him out, they created a stretcher.
They call it a human stretcher, where they put their arms out with, like, five guys on each side.
I was saying, 'Get that blood cleaned up! It's disgusting!' The next day, I forgot to call [the man] to say he's OK.
It's just not my thing." -Donald J. Trump
Fearless moral leadership material right there.
hskfmn on March 7th, 2020 at 15:43 UTC »
Another great example of his lack of empathy is when he met with Nadia Murad, a Yazidi activist, back in July.