President Trump finally calls Portland attack 'unacceptable'—but slyly avoids his base
On Friday, two men, Ricky John Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, were brutally murdered while trying to confront someone hurling anti-Muslim epithets on a commuter train in Portland. The two have been widely hailed as heroes, but not by President Donald Trump — until Monday. Trump broke his silence with a tweet from the @POTUS handle. Forgive us if this doesn't seem to have come from Trump himself. The Twitter account of Vice President Mike Pence also jumped in to comment. The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable. The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are w/ them. — President Trump (@POTUS) May 29, 2017 Well said, Mr. President. Our thoughts and prayers are with the heroes in Portland and the loved ones they left behind. https://t.co/M2Zb68ykx5 — Vice President Pence (@VP) May 29, 2017 "The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable,” the President wrote. “The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are w/ them.” The statement was issued to his professional account, not his personal one which most of his alt-right base follows. Prior to posting the tweet, the president spent days tweeting from his personal account about the issues most important to him, including the fake news media, leaks, false sources and the Montana congressional race. As of now, the FBI does not yet consider the crime a hate crime. The suspect, Jeremy Joseph Christian, has shared social media posts in the past encouraging political violence and Nazism. Trump's tweets today...4 About Fake News1 Congratulating a man who assaulted a reporter1 About Europe trip0 Denouncing Portland attack — Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) May 28, 2017 People couldn't help but notice the president's delay in posting the response, and where he chose to post the apology. His personal twitter account, which boasts 30 million followers, is known for its active alt-right base—who may not be happy to see their President tweeting about an attack some in their community find dubious. The significance of the choice to post this one from @potus but not from @realdonaldtrump won't be lost on the fanatics. https://t.co/VqwAS20EIZ — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) May 29, 2017 WATCH: The original 'Alien' gets a trailer recut as a comedy