--- title: Donald Trump Keeps Hostile Tone as Synagogue Mourns description: When President Donald Trump visits Pittsburgh Tuesday, he'll be faced with a tough balancing act. canonical: https://time.com/5438227/donald-trump-punching-back-pittsburgh/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-29T21:10:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:04:26.212Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Keeps Hostile Tone as Synagogue Mourns og:description: Even as he tries to comfort families. og:url: https://time.com/5438227/donald-trump-punching-back-pittsburgh/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb80b11517cccaa/69893dc2e76ad27fcd6335c1/bowers-synagogue-shooter-hospital-staff-jewish.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: bowers-synagogue-shooter-hospital-staff-jewish og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Keeps Hostile Tone as Synagogue Mourns twitter:description: Even as he tries to comfort families. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb80b11517cccaa/69893dc2e76ad27fcd6335c1/bowers-synagogue-shooter-hospital-staff-jewish.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Keeps Hostile Tone as Synagogue Mourns > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=953734c5-0cc2-430a-bbe4-e5dd6ac80401&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Punches Back Even as Synagogue Mourns [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Punches Back Even as Synagogue Mourns](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oMFhwsV6.m3u8) (2:14)  _Published 2018-10-29. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders opened her first press briefing in 26 days with a tearful statement about the shooting, but ended the briefing with a diatribe against what the White House views as unfair coverage by the press._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Oct 29, 2018 9:10 PM UTC White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders opened her first press briefing in 26 days with a tearful statement about the shooting, but ended the briefing with a diatribe against what the White House views as unfair coverage by the press.  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Oct 29, 2018 9:10 PM UTC When President Donald Trump visits Pittsburgh Tuesday, he’ll be faced with the tough task of balancing the traditional presidential duty to comfort and unite the country following the deadly synagogue shooting with his instinct to rip into his political foes and the press. The White House struggled to strike that balance Monday. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders opened her first press briefing in 26 days with a tearful statement about the shooting, but ended the briefing with a diatribe against what the White House views as unfair coverage by the press. Sanders choked up as she said that Trump and first lady Melania Trump will travel to Pittsburgh on Tuesday in the wake of “a chilling act of mass murder” and an “act of hatred” that [left 11 people dead](http://time.com/5436829/multiple-casualties-shooting-pittsburgh-synagogue/) in the Tree of Life synagogue. Sanders added that anti-Semitism is a “plague to humanity” and something that all Americans “have a duty to confront.” But it didn’t take long before Sanders was criticizing the press for highlighting Trump’s harsh rhetoric on the campaign trail in the run up to the midterm elections. After the shooting, “the very first thing that the president did was condemn the attacks,” Sanders said. “The very first thing the media did was blame the president,” she said. The media, she said, has “a huge responsibility to play in the divisive nature of the country.” The press hasn’t done enough to highlight the impact of Trump’s policies on the booming economy and low unemployment, among other things, Sanders said. Asked if a national tragedy takes precedence over Trump’s need to punch back against opponents, Sanders said Trump had repeatedly “risen to that occasion and worked to bring our country together” after the deadly Las Vegas shooting that killed 58 people in October 2017, hurricanes and the tragedy in Pittsburgh. On Twitter Monday, Trump blamed the news media for “division and hatred” in the country and called the press “the true Enemy of the People.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1056879122348195841) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1056700376718684160) It was not the first time Trump has struggled to balance his political fighting instincts. Following deadly clashes last year between neo-Nazis and counter protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia, critics blamed Trump for increasing racial tensions when he said there was “blame on both sides.” ## Transcript [00:00] But what point does the national tragedy take [00:02] presidency of the president leading the [ UNKNOWN ] [00:04] back, if not now when? I think you saw the president [00:08] do exactly that in the wake of national tragedy not just [00:11] this week, but everytime our country is experiencing [00:15] the type of horrific and pain that we have over the last [00:17] week. This is a president who is listen to that occassion [00:21] and [ UNKNOWN ] Bring our country together in a [00:24] number of occasions whether it's the hurricanes, [00:26] whether it's the Las Vegas shooting, whether it was the [00:28] Pittsburg shooting. All horrible, horrible tragedies that [00:32] this country has experienced, and this president has [00:34] come out Condemned the attacks when it is caused [00:39] by an individual, and try to look for ways to provide [00:42] and bring the country together when it was a natural [00:44] disaster. But both he and you have also acknowledged [00:47] that in the next breath, after he calls for unity, he does [00:50] talk about division. And what you describe as drawing [00:52] contrast. Is he incapable of, in the words of some, [00:55] toning it down and toning down the rhetoric? Again, I [00:58] think the president has had a number of moments of [01:01] bringing the country together. Once again I'll remind [01:04] you that the very first thing the president did was [01:06] condemn the attacker, and the very first thing The [01:08] media did was blame the president, all right. You [01:11] cannot have huge responsibility to play in device of [01:15] nature of this country when 90 % of the coverage of [01:18] everything that president does is negative. Despite the [01:21] fact that the country is doing extremely well. Despite [01:24] the fact that the president is delivering on exactly what [01:26] he said he was gonna do if elected and he got elected [01:29] by an overwhelming majority of 63 million Americans [01:32] who came out and supported him and wanted to see [01:34] his policies and acted. He's delivered on that. He's [01:37] delivered on promises he's made and if anything I [01:40] think it is sad. And divisive the way that every single [01:44] thing that comes out of the media. 90 % of what comes [01:47] out of the media's mouths is negative about this [01:49] president, despite the fact the economy is booming. [01:53] Despite the fact he said he would fix the trade deals [01:56] and he's done exactly that. He said he would defeat [01:58] ISIS and he has, the President has been delivering day [02:01] in and day out. And I think it would be nice if everyone [02:04] [ INAUDIBLE ] we get focused on a few on the positive [02:06] things that the president has done instead of just [02:08] attacking him ./ Thank's so much guys. Have a great [02:10] day. 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